Now We Are Sixth Years
by Carnivalgirl
Summary: The Marauders were looking forward to a peaceful, sociable summer free of exams, but what will happen when events beyond their control cut them off from each other? What doesn't kill friendship can only make it stronger. MWPP friendship fic, James POV.
1. A Midnight Dreary

**A/N:** Hello! Welcome to my new fic. Please read and enjoy! Constructive ciriticism will be appreciated.

**Chapter One**

_Once upon a midnight dreary…_

It was a dark and stormy night in the middle of June. I was incredibly hot under my thick duvet, and completely unable to sleep, which was another added stress of coming home after school finished.

The worst thing about being home was that I missed my friends: Sirius, Remus and Peter. Sirius had also gone home to London, Remus was in York visiting his grandparents, and Peter was home in Sheffield for the entire summer, instead of going to the seaside as usual.

Tonight my parents had gone somewhere for a long party. I knew they wouldn't be back until the early morning, but I didn't want to think any further on it than that. After all, partying until the wee hours was what _I _should have been doing. I had just finished my OWLs, after all. We did have a party in the dorm, in which I put Lily Evans further off me, Sirius…er…well, for some reason he couldn't sleep in his bed any more after that, Remus threw up but carried on drinking because he's strange, and Peter was a legend! We should get him drunk more often.

I tried not to think about that party, because I could hardly remember any of it and I would no doubt start trying to. I was trying to go to sleep, and how could I if my mind was full of thoughts?

Mum once told me that you can get to sleep by lying very still, and having counted 250 Golden Snitches to no avail, I felt I had no choice and tried to resume the perfect sleeping position. I felt my body relax, my thoughts clear and my head nod, and I knew that if I could keep this up, I would get to sleep after all.

I closed my eyes and smiled to myself, when suddenly there was a loud knock from the direction of the window. Was I dreaming? In any case, I had left my peaceful resting state, which meant I had either been disturbed or had fallen into a dream. The tapping continued persistently, but I ignored it and shifted my arms around my pillow.

"'Tis some animal," I muttered, "tapping at my bedroom window; only this, and nothing…"

"Prongs! James! James Potter!"

"…more."

My somnolent state was broken. My eyes were wide and alert, and I felt my heartbeat quicken. Something had to be up. None of my friends would come calling at…this time, for no good reason, unless they felt like spending a night in my front garden. I opened my curtain to face the bright light of a wand attached to the end of a broomstick. I squinted, realising I'd forgotten to take my glasses with me to the window.

"James!" My best friend was hovering outside, his expression as stormy as the weather.

"Truly your forgiveness I implore." I blurted.

"Sorry?"

"That's what I said. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I…er…" Sirius shifted uncomfortably, and I took in his appearance. He was soaking wet, and breathing heavily. Behind him was his schoolbag so packed with stuff that the broomstick was at an uncomfortable forty-five degree angle. His usual proud and somewhat stately look had left him. My heart sank as I got an inclination of what he was here for. I gestured for him to land in front of the door while I dashed downstairs and threw it open.

Sirius did not smile when he saw me, but I could see his relief as he stepped into my house, dripping all over Mum and Dad's new carpet. Ah, well, it was their own fault for putting a white carpet in the hall. He saw the stairs and immediately sat down heavily upon them.

"I've run away from home." he said, and I felt pained. Sirius had been threatening to run away for years, but most of the time his family were just about bearable. I didn't want to think what had finally persuaded Sirius to leave.

"I've had enough. I'm fed up of them and their attitude. I'm sick of being 'aristocracy'. I hate them and everything they say and do…."

He sighed, and looked at his trainers. I sat next to him and put my arm around his shoulders.

"You'll get none of that at my house. I'm pretty sure you know this already, but as long as you're happy to stay we're happy to have you. Dad didn't refurbish the spare room for nothing."

Sirius nodded, taking in everything I had to say. I realised that this pledge, versions of which I made every summer, had far more weight now that Sirius had nowhere else to go. But I meant every word I said, after all, he was my best mate and I wanted to deserve to be his best friend too.

"D'you want some tea? Or coffee, or hot chocolate?"

"Yeah, hot chocolate would be nice."

"I'll try and make a Moony's speciality." I smiled. Remus, being the son of a chocolatier, had invented his own kind of hot chocolate. It had double cream, and another mysterious ingredient that produces a beautiful amount of froth. It was also, interestingly, hardly hot at all. For some odd reason, it was quite nice when it was heated ever so slightly.

Some time later, I returned with a cup of lukewarm chocolate.

"A Moony's Speciality, _sans le froth. _But it is at the right temperature…you're not cold are you?"

"In June? Don't be ridiculous. It may be wet out there, but it's as hot as ever." I noticed as he received the chocolate that he was in a slightly better mood; in any case, he wasn't quite as dark and brooding.

"If you want more, just say so." I said, drinking from my own mug. "The kitchen at Hotel Prongs is open 24 hours a day. I'm not normally the cook, so don't expect much yet." Hotel Prongs…hey, that sounded good…

"So, who does do all the cooking here?"

"The House Elf, Chintzy."

"_Chintzy_?"

"She's Polish."

"You couldn't get her to make us…er…something nice, could you? I'm starving."

"It's the middle of the night! She'll be fast asleep."

"Can't you wake her up?"

"No! Mum and Dad would punish me for abusing the servants. I mean it; they get really angry about it and all. I'll get us a pie, that'll do, won't it?"

"Yeah…God, your family are so…_nice _to their house-elves."

"What, in that we let them sleep? I guess so."

Sirius and I raided the larder. I think for a second or two, he forgot that he wasn't running away from home, his family hadn't acted evil in some unbearable way, and began to believe that he was just at my house, hanging out with me. Which of course he was, only he wasn't going to leave any time soon. We hadn't discussed the permanent staying part, but I knew that was what he hoped for, and I rather liked the idea as well. Besides, what other options were there?

He was certainly hungry. We bounded up the stairs to the spare bedroom with a gooseberry pie, two packets of cashew nuts, some assorted toffees which were probably from Christmas, a jar of blackcurrant jam with bread and butter, and, most importantly of all, two bottles of Butterbeer. We threw ourselves onto the twin beds, put the food gently between them, and stuffed our faces.

"There'sh noffin ike pye en de earwy hoursh of de morwing!"

"_Pardon?_"

"There's nothing like pie in the early hours of the morning!"

"You can say that again."

"There's nothing like pie in the early hours of the morning… OK, now I'm bored of pie."

"Good, because I finished it while you were waxing lyrical over how good it is." He actually laughed, and so did I. I knew that Hotel Prongs had acquired its first regular.

It must have been very late when I returned to my own bedroom. I was appalled that my mother and father had not returned. God forbid that they be drunk, it wasn't decent for people that old to do such things. Before I went to bed, I assured Sirius that he was a very, very welcome guest at Hotel Prongs.

"You don't mind me sleeping here?"

"Sirius…you have no idea how bored I've been without any fellow Marauders amongst me. Seriously, though, you are absolutely my best friend and if I can't help you in times of crisis than we may as well give the whole charade a kick up the bum. Which we're not going to do, because neither of us wants to and it's currently not necessary."

"And your parents won't mind?"

"No, of course not, they love you more than Moony."

"Wow…"

"Goodnight, Sirius. See you in the morning, or rather, later!"

"James… but you're sure that I…won't be going home in the morning?"

"Nevermore, Sirius. Nevermore." I replied.


	2. A Way of Apologising

**A/N**: Hugs to the reviewers of last chapter, **Kerichi **and **Sivaroobini Lupin-Black**. Thank you! I'm sorry if this chapter is slightly silly, I guess a combination of summer and cola has disabled my ability to write seriously, it indeed I had one in the first place.

**Chapter Two**

_Friends are God's way of apologising for our families_

Later that morning, our family was reunited in the dining room for a late breakfast. I noticed that Sirius was unusually shy, and figured that I would have to be the one to explain why he was here.

Mum and Dad didn't seem particularly angry or even surprised, although I suppose they might have been hung over. I explained everything carefully to them while Chintzy spooned bacon onto my plate with an adoring grin.

"Basically, Sirius arrived here just after you left. He wrote ages ago asking if he could stay and I said yeah, because I thought you probably wouldn't mind, and I forgot he was coming last night because I thought it was next Saturday. So, can he stay for the summer?"

My mum and dad looked at me, and then at Sirius, who was finding it hard to look them in the eyes.

"Of course he can." My mum replied. "I see no reason why not, I mean, you boys get on well and we've plenty of room…. As long as nothing terrible happens."

"Terrible?" I asked her, incredulously.

"Like that time Mrs Norrington's budgie…" Dad began, but Mum shushed him.

"_We are eating! _And we have a guest! One from the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black!"

Sirius shuddered. "I'd rather not be noble and most ancient if that's allright with you all. I'm more of a…roguish, reckless and youthful type."

"You'll fit right into the House of Potter, then." Mum told him with a soft smile. "I also came from a fine pureblood family…you see why I use the past tense."

Sirius grinned. "Thank you for having me."

All of us, including Chintzy, said "T'nah" and shook our head once with a tut and a grin. I found it frankly embarrassing. Our family is just so stupidly quaint.

The conversation was quickly followed by a stupidly quaint full English breakfast. None of us were particularly hungry, but Chintzy had overreacted slightly when seeing we had a guest. So now we not only had a jug of orange juice, but also orange squash, water, milk, tea and coffee out on the table for Sirius to choose from, as well as the cooked breakfast, not that Master Sirius couldn't have cereal if he should want to! He joked that he wanted lime cordial to drink, actually, and was very surprised when Chintzy brought it straight to him, apologising for not having responded well enough to his needs. He swallowed it with a chiselled grimace.

"This is all really…great." Sirius told me, with a genuine smile on his face, after Mum and Dad had left the table. "I can't believe how accepting your Mum and Dad were. No questions or anything. Unbelievable."

"Yeah." I shrugged. "They're good."

I considered my parents for a moment. They were really decent people, something I ignored quite often. It was easy to do, since I only spent a few months a year with them anyway. Now that I was getting older, though, I realised how privileged I was. Another thing that was hitting me time and time again was how _old_ they were getting. Mum's hair had gone from dark blonde to completely grey. Dad suddenly seemed shorter and weaker. Their senses and memories didn't seem as efficient. It was so depressing to think that my parents were turning into old people, because it made me realise that I was turning into an old person's child: an adult. _Ugh…._

We were about to discuss what we would do with our day when my parents came back into the room. My mum looked worried and Dad looked rather grim. Somehow, I knew they had found out the truth, but how? Some parental radar? Voodoo?

"The post just arrived, chaps." Mum said, quietly. "There was a Howler there…for Sirius."

"It's still waiting to be opened." Dad said. "I know a spell which silences the darn things if you'd rather not go near it, Sirius."

"Thanks, that'd be good." Sirius said, sadly. He looked up at my parents, and then said. "It's probably from my family. They'll be complaining…"

"I suppose they didn't want you hanging out with us…types?" Dad guessed shrewdly. Mum stared at him, as she often did when he was blunt like that. She preferred to keep quiet and let people stew until they were ready to talk.

"Ah, they probably don't know I'm here. The owl would, of course. They're just angry that I've…that I've run away."

Dad blinked. Mum sighed sadly on Sirius's behalf. I looked at them blankly, not having a clue what to say or do.

Dad was the first to speak.

"Well, everything we said still applies; you're welcome in our house as long as you don't blow it up or anything. Though if your family demand you back we can't legally keep you from them: you're sixteen, you're underage, therefore you still belong in their custody. But this is just a couple of months, so we doubt there will be any problems there."

"So you're very much welcome." Mum repeated. "And if there's anything you do want, we can almost certainly provide it…we are magical, after all."

"Thank you." Sirius replied hoarsely, completely forgetting me and speaking directly to my mum and dad. "Thank you so much. I can't…emphasise how pleased I am to hear that."

"It's allright, Sirius. Now, are you sure you don't want to hear the Howler? Just in case…?"

"No. Definitely not."

"I'm sorry, " Dad said, "We just won't be able to get it back once I've dealt with it, so I just thought I'd ask one more time. Well…I'll get on with that, and you and James can…do whatever you lads feel like doing. Why don't you show Sirius your new broomstick, old bean?"

I felt my mouth twitch into a smile. My parents had given me a new broomstick after I completed my OWLs. It would be taken back to the shop if it turned out I'd failed anything, so I was keeping it in mint condition in the shed. I still wanted Sirius to see it, though. It was the best thing I owned.

"Oh, wait!" Mum said, her voice returning to its normal volume. "There was another letter, for you, James. It's from Remus."

"How can you tell?"

"He's got beautiful hand writing, and he's written 'James' instead of 'Jimbo' or 'Jambo' or 'Pongs' or whatever you call youself these days. Oh, and his address is in the corner."

She retrieved the letter for us, and Sirius and I sat on the sofa to read it.

_Dear Prongs,_

_Greetings from York! I hope you're having an interesting summer so far. I certainly am, but I'm not sure it's the good kind of interesting. Remember I told you that my dad was a bit of a crank? Well, I have now learnt where he got it from. My grandparents are so…odd. Well, OK, maybe I'm being a bit harsh. But the thing is, despite the fact that they are MAGICAL, they are obsessed with Muggle music. And not just general music, one particular composer. Mozart, his name is. They have the largest private collection of Mozart stuff in England, unfortunatelynot in the UK yet because they have a rival fruitcake in Rhondda Cynon Taff. They even named their child after the man. Yes, my father's name was not 'John' as he pretended it was and gave to me as a middle name. It was 'Amadeus'. That's pronounced Ama-DAY-us, not AMADDY-us. Sorry, my grandfather got quite offended when I pronounced it like that and has drilled it in me ever since. However, Amadeus was not Mozart's first name, oh no. His first name was, in fact, _Wolfgang, _Honestly…Wolfgang…Lupin…REMUS…my family's been cursed from the beginning. I hate them, I really do. _

_Just when I thought they could do no worse, it turns out they own a choir. Yes, it's theirs. They have a bunch of children come in every Saturday morning, to their house, to sing, which I think is dodgy, but then what can I say about a couple who cursed their only grandchild to doom thirty years before it was born. The front children also have their own toads to hold so they can croak while they sing. That is twisted and wrong and I am calling the MSPCA the next time one of those brats dares me to kiss one! Sorry, I'm a little bitter; I have swollen lips now and I look like a victim of the Black Plague. Anyway, I've been rambling for far too long and you're probably incredibly bored. So I'm going to ask you one last thing: have you heard from Peter? I've sent him loads of letters asking him to meet up with me somewhere, but he barely replies, and when he does, he completely ignores my attempts to invite him over and writes about something completely irrelevant and stupid like mint humbugs. I hate those things, chocolate limes are the best Muggle sweet and that is that. Mint humbugs are for old people. Although I agree with him about Dolly Mixtures…not that I like that any more, it's for kiddies._

_Please please please please write to me,_

_Your friend who you love and want to write to, Moony._

"I think he would like a reply." Sirius pointed out.

"Yeah…maybe we should visit."

"Maybe we should join the choir."

"Hell yes. I want a singing toad."

"Me too. You know Frank Longbottom has a toad that can change colour and tap its foot to the beat of 'Shake your Sicklemaker'? Would you Adam and Eve it?"

"Oh, please!"

"It's the truth, Potter, mark my words! Anyway, on a more serious topic…what's the deal with Peter? Why is he ignoring Moony's invitations?"

"Maybe he's annoyed with Moony for some reason. Maybe we should try writing to him and see if he responds."

"Good idea. But you still have a broomstick to show me."

"That I do, but let's not forget about Peter."

And so, Sirius and I made our way to the shed, and as soon as I saw my new broomstick again for the first time since yesterday afternoon, my plans to write to Wormtail had been forgotten.


	3. Misfortune Shows

**A/N:** Love to all my reviewers…I'll see you when I get out of Cliffhangers Anonymous, unless you're a member too!

**Chapter Three**

_Misfortune shows those who are not really friends. _

After that first day, the time positively flew. My friendship with Sirius didn't seem to change much from the way it was at Hogwarts, even if I was trying harder than usual to avoid the subject of his family. My own family were as supportive as they could be-Mum allowed us to add whatever we liked to the shopping list, and bought us small presents that were usually toffees, or books about lads like ourselves catching smugglers. Chintzy would make summer pudding and lemonade as she did every summer, and Dad took us fishing one weekend.

There were times when Sirius couldn't forget his own family. It was almost impossible to avoid pureblood mania in times like these, and then there were those exclusive Potter family moments that he could not understand. I wished we didn't have those, but without them, we wouldn't be ourselves. I often got urges to know what it was his family had done to make him run away, but I knew that Sirius would tell me one day, and pressuring him would only make things worse. Perhaps _if _we ever met up with Remus and Peter, he would tell the three of us then.

Remus had been writing almost constantly, his main concerns being his allergy to toads and Peter, or the lack thereof. Sirius worked out the reason: Peter was ashamed of his exam performance, and Remus wouldn't shut up about it. People who do really well always want to talk about it with others, so that they can show off. Peter didn't want to tell Remus, and was now not writing to him because he wouldn't shut up about it. I thought that was fairly realistic and sensible, but Remus was furious when Sirius explained it to him. He insisted he would not put that sort of pressure on Peter.

One morning, Sirius and I were at a loss for what to do. We stared at our bacon and eggs, mentally searching for an activity that didn't contain the words 'house' 'home' or 'work'.

"Bored are we?" My dad asked over a mug of tea.

"Yeah." I told him miserably. "Nothing interesting has been happening lately."

"My newspaper subscription stopped yesterday."

"That's exactly what I mean."

"Perhaps you and Sirius could get me a newspaper from round the corner."

I looked at Sirius with a look that hopefully said 'You see? We have a hopeless cause'. However, Sirius scooped up the last of his Golden Snitch Bakes and gave Dad a cheery smile.

"Sure we will, right James?"

"Yeah…" I groaned, lifting myself from my chair and sluggishy shuffling to get money from Dad.

"You know the procedure?"

"Of course."

"See you chaps in a bit, then." he said, taking a gulp from his tea and returning his eyes to the bacon.

It was a gorgeously sunny day, and I couldn't help feeling cheerful as I lead the way to the shops. Perhaps Sirius and I could climb up on the roof later with some lemonade. Mum would go spare if she found out, but Dad wouldn't tell, especially since we were so kind in doing him this favour. He'd given us quite a lot of money for the newspaper too, so there would be spare change for some Fizzing Whizzbees, or possibly a couple of Chocolate Frogs. My collection needed updating, after all.

The corner shop is an unusual, almost unique convenience store. Everything about it seems ordinary, but there's a lot more to it than meets the eye. We entered discretely, moving past the bottles of milk, the tinned soup and the hugely tempting Pick 'n' Mix that two jolly Muggle children were helping themselves to. It was a genuine shame that I had no Muggle money, apart from the awesome golden coin that Peter gave me. I could probably buy all the sweets they had with that thing.

Sirius and I approached the shop keeper casually, trying not to attract attention. We said our greetings and dutifully put some crisps on the counter to look like we were buying something.

"Can we have a Prophet, please?" I whispered. The shopkeeper looked at me with caution, as we knew he would. I'd told Sirius about this routine on the way here. The shopkeeper, see, is a Squib. As a result, he lives literally between the Muggle and Wizarding worlds. In the front of his shop is everything a Muggle wants from day to day. In the back, should someone turn up and know to ask, is everything a wizard wants from day to day. Daily Prophets, sweets, cheap novels, Brushing and Flossing Mints…usual stuff for a family like mine. However, the wizard that comes needs to answer a question that only a wizard would know, to distinguish him from a Muggle kid whose heard a rumour or something.

"Who won the Quidditch World Cup last time?" he asked me. An easy question. He knew I was a wizard really, it was just standard procedure. Sort of thing a dedicated Muggle kid would have worked out from the great celebrations this time two years ago.

"England." I answered proudly.

"And it was our greatest victory yet." He beamed contently, and retreated to a cupboard the back of his shop. He returned minutes later with a sealed paper bag that I knew contained the Daily Prophet. I handed him some money and received change as swiftly and softly as I had the newspaper. We took our crisps with the bag and left.

Dad was pleased with the newspaper, though a bit annoyed that we'd forgotten to renew the subscription. He opened it and told us to run along, which we did. We ran straight to the kitchen, where Chintzy was washing up breakfast. She knew by her mysterious Elvish magic exactly what we wanted, and told us to fetch her some lemons.

We were setting the ladder up by the side of the house, cold glasses of lemonade in our hands, when Dad reappeared beside us, still gripping his newspaper.

"If falling off that doesn't kill you, your mum will." He observed, looking at the ladder. I assumed he had come to stand beside with his wand, ready to use a spell if either of us were to take a stumble. The grim look on his face, however, suggested that he was not preparing to be an assistant to the Marauders today.

"There's something in the newspaper I think you should see." he said, opening it at the appropriate page.

**WIZARDS BURGLED BY MUGGLE!**

_Elderly wizarding couple, Bertram and Isadora Lupin, were burgled in their sleep by an intrepid Muggle on Wednesday night. They were the owners of the largest collection of articles belonging or related to the Muggle musician Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in England, and also held the record for the largest collection related to a specific Muggle owned by Wizarding people in Europe. Nearly all the articles, except the ones kept in highly secure conditions, were stolen. Aurors disguised as Muggle Law Enforcement (known bizarrely as 'Coppers') arrived after they were alerted by the Lupins' only grandchild, Remus, 16. The couple are very shaken and upset after the incident, and are being looked after in St. Mungo's after Remus expressed fears for his grandfather's weak heart. _

_Remus himself is being interrogated by Aurors and will also be interviewed by Coppers. The Aurors have told the Coppers that Remus's shoulder was dislocated by the burglar and he is in hospital having it repaired. Remus is a werewolf and has been one for many years, which means he has definitely acquired a wolfish sense of cunning and of violence. Why he was awake at such an early hour of the morning is very suspicious, although we guessed he might have wanted to howl at something before the sun rose. _

_Though it is suspected that Remus has been involved in some mysterious way, the culprit has been identified. The way in which he burgled the house suggests that they were either a Muggle or a young wizard, for a grown wizard would have Apparated. There is no sign of Apparition here, but enough clues remain for the Aurors to deduce the identity of their culprit with advanced forensic equipment. _

**The burglar has been identified as PETER PETTIGREW**. **If you know anyone of that name, Wizard or Muggle, do not hesistate to inform the Aurors immediately (or the Coppers if you must). We thank you in advance for your help in keeping our environment safer. **


	4. Neither a Borrower nor a Lender

**Chapter Four**

_Neither a borrower nor a lender be;  
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,  
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.  
This above all: to thine ownself be true,  
And it must follow, as the night the day,  
Thou canst not then be false to any man. _

I couldn't believe what I had just read. It was odd, like one of those dreams where everything seems real but one little thing's wrong, and that's what makes you realise you're asleep. Except…it really did say Peter's name there. And it wasn't as if his name was John Smith or something…there weren't many people about with the same name. This meant that Peter…but that made no sense.

Sirius looked down on me concernedly, and I realised that I had sat down while contemplating this news. I must have been ignoring the world for a while. He sat down beside me, discarding the newspaper to the wind.

"How're you feeling?" He asked. I shrugged, because I really didn't know what to think.

"It doesn't make sense. There has to be something else there, there just has to be. I can't…sit here and take this in, because there's barely anything to take in. OK, so someone named Peter Pettigrew burgled Remus's grandparents. Why did he do it? We don't know. Is it actually Wormtail? We don't know."

"That article was more concerned with insulting Remus than it was with the facts. 'Course, it's nothing unusual these days…"

"Exactly. Do you think we should write to Wormtail? Find out what we're dying to know?"

"No, what would we put? 'Give Remus's Nan and Grandad their stuff back, you filthy scoundrel, we know you did it'? Would we cut letters out of the Prophet as well? I don't that'd do any good. Let's write to Remus. If anyone knows what really happened that night, he does. He got up, didn't he?"

"To go and _howl _at something…" I muttered furiously. That cheesy and offensive jibe had left a deep wound. Shaking myself out of seeing red, I thought further.

"We could look at another newspaper. The local ones, in York. They would report more. Dad could Apparate to some random shop and bring a few back."

"Brilliant." Sirius said, looking more cheerful. I couldn't say I felt the same way. I doubted, somehow, that Moony's letter would be full of optimism, especially considering the interrogation he had just been through. And if the Aurors had acquired more information about Peter Pettigrew--how tall he was, what colour his hair was, what broomstick he rode--surely they would put it in the Prophet, because that'd make the search even easier. If the search was still going on, and Remus hadn't grassed on Peter. Remus is a good friend, but I don't think he'd be very sympathetic in this situation. My friends were breaking apart…

"Cheer up, Prongs. Your forehead looks like an accordion that's been trampled on by an elephant. Things'll sort themselves out; they always do in the end. And by the way, if it's that prejudiced article that's pissing you off, the Daily Prophet could always receive an angry letter from some people in high places."

"Yeah, right. The people in high places are the ones that condone that stuff."

"Some…_foreign _gentlemen…"

"You're not thinking of sending in S.W.A.N.D, now?"

"I'm talking about Baron von Toofdap, pureblooded Deputy Minister of West Germany, and his Norwegian assistant, Mr Sgnorp." Sirius grinned, gleefully.

I laughed sadly. "Aren't those letters usually accompanied by ones from the distinguished Czechoslovakian surgeon, Dr Ynoom, and the Rt. Hon. Sir Liatmrow, Duke of Zagreb?"

"It's Dr Ynoom that has been most offended! We are writing on his behalf. Dr Ynoom, I suspect, has some kind of…personal attachment to Remus Lupin."

"Allright, then. We'll write it…"

_**Dear Sir/Madam,**_

**_Auf Weidersehn. I am writing on behalf of my employer, Baron von Toofdap of West Germany, head of the fine pureblooded family von Toofdap. His dear beloved…sorry, close, personal partner, sorry, friend, the distinguished Doctor Ynoom of Czechoslovakia, was heartbroken after you repeatedly insulted a werewolf, Remus Lupin, in one of your articles. This is prejudism and it is wrong. In Germany we call it Stupidenglischgitsen and it is illegal in our country. You ought to know that over here werewolves are allowed what every human being is allowed (Ja, they are human beings sometimes, clearly Hogwarts does not teach Defence Against the Dark Arts very well) which is DIGNITY and RESPECT and LIBERTY!_**

_**Das ist tres terriblement, amigo. For shame. **_

_**Guten Tag,**_

_**Mr Sgnorp, on behalf of Baron von Toofdap, on behalf of Dr Ynoom**_

After being threatened with death from Sirius for writing 'close, personal partner', I shakily wrote a serious letter to Moony, asking him to tell us everything he knew about what had happened, and whether Peter really had burgled his home. The reply took a long time, which left us both feeling stranded. Though we'd had a good laugh writing the Baron von Toofdap letter, it left us with an ominous feeling that our foursome would never be the same again.

The reply came later that evening. It was a short letter carried by a tired and slow owl, and the parchment had chocolatey fingerprints decoratively surrounding the edge.

_Padfoot and Prongs, _

_I can't entirely understand why you thought it, but I can assure you that it wasn't our Peter than burgled my grandparents' house. I told Peter in a letter a while ago about how my dad's real name was Amadeus, and Peter replied that that was fancy, and his dad was just called Peter Pettigrew, like him. And because I trust Peter enough not to suspect him (what are you two on? Next thing I hear it'll be the return of Baron von Toofdap), I think it must have been Peter's dad that did it. Peter's family don't have much money at the moment, that's why they've not gone on holiday. I'm not going to say any more than that, because I don't want to mess things up with Peter. He's probably pretty messed up already at the moment. Why don't you write HIM a nice letter? OK, I'm sorry, it's just that I want to go home, but I can't because there's nobody there. Maman has come up too. I hate this summer. I want to back to school…if only for my big bed…Sorry, I'm just so tired._

_Over and out, Moony_

"Well." I said, "That's a bit of a relief. Although now what's going to happen to Peter?"

"He'll stay with his mum, I expect." Sirius replied. "Unless she's a crook too."

"Oh, Peter…" My mum sighed sadly, tugging at her needlework. "He was such a lovely boy. He had the loveliest accent, and he was so polite, he was like a little angel the first time he came. Especially with those blond curls. It's a shame, his life will never be what it was."

"No, but at least he's got another world to escape to." Dad said. "If Peter wants, he can hop on his broomstick to Diagon Alley and get away from all the Muggles."

"Oh, he can't fly. He's too scared." I pointed out, casually. "We were going to teach him this summer."

"This summer's not turning out the way we wanted." Sirius moped, and I could tell his mind was returning to whatever had brought him to our living room in the first place.

I flicked through the newspaper again, trying to divert my curiosity about what had happened to Sirius. It was wrong, and I needed something to take my attention. I _certainly _found something.

**WORLD CUP TROPHY-NAPPED!**

The glorious golden Quidditch World Cup, currently in possession of England, has disappeared. How it was removed from its trophy case in the Quidditch Association Headquarters is unknown. The person who kidnapped it has been traced, but it is no longer in their possession. Thus, it has been declared missing. Any person or group who finds it can expect to receive a 200 Galleon reward upon its delivery to London.

I looked at Sirius eagerly, and he glanced at the article.

"Don't be stupid, James. There are precisely one squillion places it could be. What makes you think we'll be able to find it? We can't Summon it or anything, obviously. How in God's name…"

"Sirius…this is the adventure we've been looking for. And there's a pot of gold at the end of it. We can use it to help Peter's family sort out their money problems, and get some of the Mozart stuff back!"

"Now you really are being stupid."

He rolled his eyes and settled back in to the moody state he had been in before. I didn't care what he said. This was a job for the Marauders!

**A/N:** OK, I apologise for this chapter. Please mention if you think the story's getting too silly. Big thank yous to last week's reviewers: **LifeAtRandom, Ward **and **Kerichi**.


	5. It Came To Me

A/N: This is for the people who asked. Hope you enjoy it. I'm sorry if this chapter seems somewhat pointless and haphazard. You see, my Detailed Plan was wiped when My Documents were wiped, and so I'm left with the original Simple Plan which hasn't given me a lot of material. I still hope you can find something you appreciate in here, and please do review!

**Chapter Five**

_It came to me, my own, my love... my... preciousssss. _

Our once dull and pointless summer had taken a turn for the interesting. Sirius and I had not one, but two tasks on our hands. First, we had to reunite ourselves with Peter, and sort out the fiasco of the burglary. Of course, we would rescue Remus in the process. The second task, less possible but not more exciting than the first, was to find the missing Quidditch World Cup. The mystery of its location consumed me. Perhaps I had read and watched too many mystery things, but I was convinced there was a logical path that would show us to the Cup. With a combination of clues and superb intellect, we could work out its exact location. Naturally, I was also prepared for a little magic.

Sirius, to be frank, couldn't give a monkey's about the World Cup. It's not as if they couldn't replace it, he said. The money wouldn't help anything much, he said. We couldn't find it even if we tried, he said. I ignored his whining and focused on the puzzle. If he wasn't interested in the challenge, then that made it mine, and my possession of it drew me even closer. Sirius even went so far to say I was obsessed. I was not! Interested and excited, maybe, but not obsessed. My true obsession made its, or as I should say, _her, _way back to me some time later.

'Twas a glorious day, the day she found me. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the grass was greener than Wormtail after stealing Moony's chocolate, and I was indoors, in my pyjamas. We felt like being lazy, and did not go with Mum and Dad to the decorating shop or wherever.

There came a knock at the door. Forgetting my casual state, I sauntered lethargically towards the door and opened it.

"Good morning. I'm from the retirement home, and I'm here about….Oh, _God._"

Oh God, indeed! Oh, gracious God! For here, before my very eyes, was Lily Evans. Gryffindor perfect. Spirit of my dreams. Love of my life. Her long red hair was tied back today in a professional way, and she wore a badge to confirm what my heart yearned to know.

"You're…Lily Evans…"

"WHAT?" Sirius leapt up from the sofa and raced to join me. "I don't believe it! This is insane! I don't know what to say…er…Hi, Evans."

Evans was as dumbstruck as we were. Understandable, really. I mean, most girls can only dream of going around to some random house and finding two gorgeous men in their pyjamas.

"I _cannot _believe this."

"I know, it's wonderful, isn't it?" I spluttered, struggling to cope with the returning feelings of love and attraction that had been buried within for several weeks.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Sirius asked her, polite but confusedly.

"Well, I'm at this house because I'm volunteering at the old folks' home near here, and I'm going round the houses seeing if anyone wants to donate. I guess this area is only semi-Muggle. I'm here in Kent because I'm staying with my boyfriend, Alex."

_Ow. _My heart sank to my toes. _Evans had a boyfriend. _Immediately I thought of her with him--I had no idea who he was, but I saw him as blond, tanned and muscular--kissing, hugging…or even worse. No longer was she a fair lady for me to win…someone else had taken her, perhaps corrupted her, before I could. I knew she was too good to stay single for long, but I had hoped that the boy she'd choose…I'd heard from the girls that she was waiting for a good bloke…would be me. Feeling slightly dizzy, I focused my eyes on a pattern in the carpet, saying nothing.

"Alex volunteers there, you see, and I thought I'd join him for this week. I'm going home on Sunday."

"Well, we can't really give you any wizarding money, since it's a Muggle charity." Sirius was talking to Evans, seemingly oblivious to his best friend's newly broken heart.

"No, but I'm going to assume you would."

"We do have one gold coin. Peter gave it to us." I murmured. "I'd be happy to give it to you. " I turned, not looking at either of them, and went up to my room to get the coin. I admired the pictures on it for the last time, and then went downstairs to give it to Evans.

As I did this, our eyes locked. Her green eyes, which I knew I loved, made my heart ache even more. I hadn't known how much I liked her until I'd known she couldn't be mine.

"Thank you." She told me. "It'll no doubt contribute to something good. I'll see you at school. Bye." And with that, she left. I returned my eyes to the carpet, and listened to the sound of the door shutting. I felt Sirius's hand on my shoulder.

"Are you OK, mate?"

"I…I don't know." I said.

"Do you want to be left alone?" he asked, sympathetically. He was trying to understand me, and I appreciated that.

"No, no thank you. I'd rather have some company."

"You know, it's only a boyfriend, James. It's not like she's married to him with 2.4 children, and even if she was, it's not like people don't get divorced. Don't give up on her; she's a great girl. Dead pretty. And what about your shrine to her? At Hogwarts?"

"I don't have a shrine to her. It's just a photograph with hearts and stuff doodled on the frame."

"Think of your shrine, James. It thinks of you…"

I sighed. God, I _loved _Evans. What could I do? Just forget about her and focus on something else? It was impossible. She was an amazing person, you couldn't get better...

As I walked upstairs to get out of my pyjamas and into some clothes (as it really was about time I did) I decided that the thing to do would be to return to where I was before she turned up, and I heard what she had to say. I had been focused on Peter, and the World Cup, both of which had meant a lot to me. That was when it hit me; we would combine the two. We would find out exactly what was going on with Peter's life, we would write a sensitive and thoughtful letter to him, and if he responded positively, we would invite him, and Remus, over, and search for the World Cup.

I told Sirius my plans, making an effort to look cheerful and like I did not care that Evans had a…was with someone else. As usual he thought the World Cup idea was stupid, but meeting up with Peter and Remus was necessary. So, we did what they always tell you to do after kids' programmes on the wireless…we went to our local library!

The Muggle newspaper archives were fascinating…we could have stayed all day. Eventually we found out, however, that there was a decline in traditional industry. Not so long ago, another steel factory in Sheffield had closed, meaning many people lost their jobs. One of the villages affected was familiar to us…it was Peter's. Sirius and I considered this information and guessed that Peter's dad, the burglar, had been employed by the factory. When it closed, he needed to find some sort of income, but as the factory was the main place where people worked; there weren't many jobs left, especially since there would be a huge rush to all the vacancies around. We didn't know this information for sure, but it was an assumption, and it made sense. Admittedly, it was the same sense that my 'Evans is in love with me, that's why we clash so often' theory made, but I still had some confidence in myself.

"So there aren't many ways left to make money…"

"No...At least, not many legitimate ones." I replied. We were walking home at this point, still in deep conversation.

"Again we don't know for sure. Maybe Mr. Pettigrew is just a crook waiting for an opportunity. But why did he go all the way to another city to burgle?"

"Because they had good stuff that's probably worth a lot of cash? And, with burglars, you kind of assume it's someone local, don't you? Because they would know your habits and would have staked out your house…horrible thought, really."

"I guess Mr Pettigrew has been arrested by now."

"It'd be unlikely for him not to be."

"And so what happens to Peter?"

"Well, he stays with his mum, like we thought. Unless…they're in a witness protection programme...oh, God, what if they are? What if they've moved to Ireland or something?"

"What if he's changed his name? We can't write Peter, can we?"

That complicated things somewhat, but my owl always knew where Peter was, and also knew that Wormtail was Peter. My plan to combine my two mysteries was running smoothly, and despite his reluctance, Sirius went along with it.

"Some of the stupidest things we have ever thought of," he said, "have become the best things we have ever done."

Nodding, I complied yet another letter to Remus and Peter, making sure to omit the 'Peter' in case he was under a programme. My poor owl. Such is the burden of being a Marauder's familiar. Just ask Peter's toad, or Remus's stamp collection.

_To Sir Liatmrow and Dr Ynoom_

_We are inviting you on an Expedition. As you two are no doubt very much aware, the World Cup, which is England's, has gone missing. We are going to find it. Meet at my house? If you can't make it, we'll come and fetch you. Just tell us your address, or make an anagram of it, as you too like to do. Also, tell us when you're free, or we'll just turn up on Saturday morning. Is that cool? We've missed you guys, and look forward to seeing you._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Baron von Toofdap and his ever faithful Sgnorp_


	6. Fortune Favours the Brave

**A/N: **Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I've been very busy with school and had a bit of a block. I hope this chapter is to your liking...mwahahaha. Meet you in Cliffies Anonymous.

**Chapter Six**

_Fortune favours the brave. _

Saturday arrived surprisingly quickly, but Sirius and I weren't quite ready for it. In fact, at approximately eleven o'clock on Saturday morning I was woken by a long banging at my bedroom door. Loud bangs seemed to have interesting consequences for me.

"Master James! There is a Remus Lupin here to see you." Chintzy declared from behind the door. "Chintzy is sorry to wake Master, but Chintzy must respond to the wishes of household guests."

"Is he still at the door?" I asked.

"No, Mistress has invited him in for elevenses. Remus Lupin is downstairs with Master Sirius, who awoke two hours ago."

"Don't tell me it's really eleven."

"As you is wishing, Master James. Chintzy won't tell you the time."

"Tell Remus Lupin I'll be downstairs in a minute, and also tell him he's a git for waking me up."

Remus and Sirius beamed at me when I entered the front room. Sirius didn't seem to have been awake long either, as he was still wearing pyjamas. But then, he often took advantage of the opportunity to wear pyjamas around the house without being called lazy and improper.

"Hey, James. It's great to see you at long last." Remus said, cheerfully. He had a big grin on his face and a small leather satchel on his shoulder. It was full of essential tools for adventures.

"Yeah, you too. I see you've...caught a bit of a suntan."

"It's burn, really," Remus began. _No, really? _Poor Moony looked like a freshly boiled lobster. Mmm...lobster...God, I was hungry.

"I like it, though. It makes me look healthier, I think it must be the vitamin D..." I wasn't listening. I was taking in the small china plate of crumbs between my best friends.

"Don't tell me those were Eccles cakes."

"As you is wishing, Master James..." Chintzy responded, diligently taking away the empty plate.

"I'm afraid they were. And they had...loads and loads of raisins, Prongs. Big, fat, juicy raisins. In a brown sugar paste, covered with golden pastry." Sirius told me, adding an ethereal tone to his voice.

"Don't forget the sugar sprinkled on top." Remus added, smacking his lips cheerfully.

"Gits, both of you. I don't know why I allow you into my house. Where's Pete, anyway?"

"He's meeting us in this park near his house for lunch. Moony knows a spot where we can Floo over, and walk from there." Sirius told me.

"He couldn't be bothered to get up early...I think I'm the only one." Remus pointed out. "I don't know why I tried. Anyway, lunch is officially in an hour and a half at one o'clock..."

"Oh, I do like living like this." Sirius said cheerfully.

"I only had breakfast two hours ago, I've just had elevenses, and it'll be lunch soon...God, I feel like a Hobbit. Where's my brunch?" Remus complained, which only made my stomach grumble even more.

"I'm getting breakfast. You two canoodle on the sofa for a few minutes, or better, decide where we're hunting first!"

As soon as I dashed into the kitchen, my mother was waiting for me.

"James, it's getting a bit late for a day's adventure, don't you think?"

"Not really..." I protested, though I had been having doubts.

"Precious...Peter has to be home by five. I think his mother might have to go to work. Unless you and Sirius stay out late, which I suppose you're welcome to do...but even then, the World Cup's not going to be lying around in some park in Sheffield."

"It's possible!"

"James, dearest...look, Chintzy and I have made you boys a picnic. There are ham sandwiches for you, cold sausage ones for Sirius, chocolate spread for Remus and strawberry preserve for Peter. There's also some Butterbeer, cakes, crisps, fruit-do actually eat that, won't you?-some biscuits and a bag of Bertie Botts's Every Flavour Beans, Party Mix."

I couldn't complain about that.

Two hours later, after getting lost four times and being pointed at by Muggles, the four of us were blissfully stuffing our faces with food.

"This is brilliant!" Peter declared with his mouth full. Sirius shuddered.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, it's disgusting and oafish." he blurted, as if someone had pushed a 'Scold' button on the back of his neck. He blinked, and looked at Peter apologetically.

"Sorry...I just...erm...don't like to see food churning about in people's mouths..."

"Mum's always telling me to wait, but some things need saying." Peter replied.

Peter was right. It did need saying, because it _was _brilliant. It was the four of us, just having fun, not thinking about our families burgling each other and kicking us out of the house. No, this day had one purpose and one purpose only, and that was fun. The weather was insanely hot, and we had to make the most of it. Sirius and Peter, I noticed, were balancing spoons on their noses. Of course, Peter's turned up snout could beat Sirius's long, aristocratic schnoz any day of the week, but Sirius would never give up. I watched them as I tucked into another slice of cake, but I saw Remus in the corner of my eye.

"Are you OK, Moony? You didn't touch those Acid Pops, did you? We all know what you're like after you have one of those..."

"I'm just a bit concerned about the heat. It seems odd, doesn't it? I mean it's so cloudy..."

"Well, when mistakes like that happen, it's usually because a wizard did it."

"That excuse certainly works when we're at Hogwarts..."

"So, that heat wave ages ago where everyone, like, died...was that..." Peter began.

"Wizard." I declared with a grin.

Ten minutes later, as Peter, Sirius, Remus and I threw fruit at each other, I realised my obvious logic had been wrong. I felt a small splash of water hit me on the head, and put my palm to the sky.

"It's raining."

"Oh, no..." Peter wailed disappointedly. "Shall we go back to my house?"

"Nah, let's keep going." I said, picking up a stray grape from behind me and eating it. Peter shrugged and aimed another grape at Remus's head, but my other two friends stared at me incredulously.

"Honestly, a bit of rain's nothing to be..." Suddenly, my vision was clouded by drops of water falling on my glasses. "...erm, afraid of..."

We watched as the park was quickly evacuated. Soon, we were the only ones left.

"We are beginning to look more and more mental by the minute." Remus sighed.

Suddenly, there was a clap of thunder. We all jumped, and Peter squealed.

"Wicked, a thunderstorm!" he shouted, cheerfully, not noticing how soaked he, and the rest of us, were quickly becoming. Lightening flashed across the sky, and his eyes widened in delight. He could have sat there all day, but there was plenty of food left, and I didn't want it to get soggy.

"Let's go under that tall tree!" Sirius declared, pointing to a nearby oak tree with wide branches that protected the ground beside it. In seconds, we had all grabbed the food and blankets and were running straight towards the shelter. We settled beside it in a similar way to what we had been before, and I lay down on the dry grass to stare at the tree's leafy branches. Sirius and Peter continued their grape fight, but Remus had a bitter expression on his face which suggested the three of us were in for a lecture.

"I always knew we'd all die together because of something stupid we did..."

"What are you on about?" I asked him tiredly.

"I mean, this tree's going to get struck by lightning, and fall over on top of us! Or maybe we'll get struck by lightning..."

"Will you stop? You're ruining my aim." Sirius told him, aiming once again for Peter's gigantic mouth. He caught it deftly. "More!" he said, positively.

"Sorry, that was the last one." Sirius said, and he and Peter sat boredly while Remus continued to moan.

"And we're under an oak tree as well. Do you know you're sixty times more likely to be struck if you're under one of those? It's because of the straight roots."

Normally, I would have told him long ago to shut up about being struck by lightning, but I couldn't be bothered. I knew it was a bit daft to sit under a tall tree during a lightning storm, but really, the odds of us being hurt somehow by lightning were pretty damn high.

"I suggested we went back to Peter's house, but did anyone hear me? No."

"Moony, take a chill pill."

"It's the full moon tomorrow, chill pills do me no good! I can't believe how daft you guys are."

"Oh, insult away, wolf-boy, we don't mind!"

"Sirius, don't you start making werewolf jokes."

God, they were so annoying. I closed my eyes to them, and hoped I would slip away into a dream of finding the World Cup...going to the Quidditch Headquarters...stupid friends not being stupid...

"I used to be a werewolf, but I'm all right _noooooowww_!"

"Sirius, that is so not funny it's not even funny. Am I right, Peter?"

"My bum hurts."

_Stupid friends...so very annoying and stupid..._

_"No really, it feels like I'm sat on something hard."_

_"Probably a tree root."_

_"Nah, it's not...I'm going to see what it is..."_

_"This is just so exciting!"_

_"Moony, get a life...wait, guys...guys...it's shiny...I think it's..."_


	7. Lightning in the Hand

**A/N**: Please forgive this pathetic chapter. I'm very upset and worried about an expedition I'm going on, and I've been trying to cheer myself up...sighs sadly

**Chapter Seven**

_It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand. _

One minute and forty seconds later, the four of us were gather tightly around the place where Peter had sat, as he dug furiously to retrieve whatever he'd sat on.

"I don't see why we're doing this." Remus speculated. "But I must admit, it is interesting."

"Because of what could be, Remus. What could be." A dreamy smile spread across Sirius's face. "We have a literally golden opportunity in front of us, do you not see it sparkle? And we must grab it, and bring it to our hearts and never let go, because we're still so _young, _and if you don't act now than before you blink you'll be old, like me..."

"Sirius, you're only three months older than me."

"...old, never having explored the mysteries of life and regretting it every day! I will never know what you could know! You've got to chase the rainbow, Remus, to reach the pot of gold..." Sirius elaborated, flourishing his arms in the direction of Remus's head.

"I think Padfoot's reached another kind of pot." I laughed.

Peter grunted in frustration. "I still don't see why, Padfoot, you couldn't just chuffin' transform and dig the chuffin' thing up in ten seconds. Becuase I know it's a Muggle park and all that, but I'm getting all this chuffin' dirt up my chuffin' fingernails..."

"_What _fingernails?" Padfoot retorted, with a disgusted glance at Peter's severally bitten fingernails.

"It's the return of Peter the Tank Engine!" Remus declared. "Chuff, chuff, chuff...chugga chugga, chugga chugga..."

"Woo-woo!"

"Shut up, all of you." I snapped. A sparkle of gold had caught my eye, and in two shakes of a lamb's tail I was digging with Peter, getting chuffin' dirt up my chuffin' fingernails.

And sure enough, those unspoken suspicions were right. We gradually unearthed a winged golden globe, supported by five hoops around the outside to represent the continents, and a base with the three glorious words: QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP engraved around it. I felt a happiness that I had not felt since the incident with Lily and her...friend. Looking at my friends faces, they felt the same way as I did, only to an ever so slightly lesser degree.

The dirt brushed off easily, nothing could damage its purity. I took in in my hands and lifted it proudly. It was beautiful. It was ours, not just the country's but _ours_. It was the best feeling in the world.

"Mum...is going...to go spare..." Peter gaped. "...in a good way..."

"I don't believe this." Remus said. "It's a fake...it's...got to be..."

"It's hallmarked." I told him, my voice shaking with emotion. "It's real, Moony. Really real."

"Can we show it to my mum?" Peter asked. "I think she'd like it...and I was gonna ask if you lot wanted to come to tea anyway but I forgot..."

"Come on then." Sirius agreed triumphantly. "Let's be off to Peter's. It's a bit of a walk, not to mention the torrential rain, but...what the hell! Prongs, Moony, you two are the lightest...Peter and I'll give you a hero's lift."

"You're not throwing me over your shoulder, either of you." Remus replied bitterly, clearly remembering the events of the summer in first year when we...er...kidnapped him. I'm not going to go any further into it than that.

"I'm not lifting Remus, he's bigger than me!" Peter added, crossly. "In height only, but still!"

And so, we walked. Or rather, they walked, while I sat proudly on Padfoot's shoulders. You would think that my weight would have been too much for him, but he was used to it, and anyway, I'd give him a turn in a minute or two. Meanwhile, I held the World Cup high into the blacked sky...whilst thinking of all the things that would happen because of the reward money...and of course we were bound to get our pictures taken in the Daily Prophet, and Lily Evans would see what a hero I was, forget Alex and fall in love with me. Everything was right in the world.

"I've paid my dues," Peter said, as he walked beside us. "...time after time..."

"I've done my sentence..." Remus continued, with a musical lilt to his voice, "...but committed no crime..."

"And bad mistakes," Sirius sang, "I've made a few..."

"I've had my share of sandkicks in my face, but I've come through!" I concluded, loudly, and we all sang together.

"And we mean to go on, and on, and on and on..."

"_We _are the champions, my friends..." I sang, cheerfully.

"And we'll keep on fighting...till the end!" Sirius continued proudly, and we all joined together again.

"We are the champions, _we are the champions, _no time for losers, 'cos _WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS...OF THE WORLD!" _

I suddenly noticed a voice missing from our chorus, and turned to see Remus staring in shock at Sirius and me. A line appeared between his eyebrows, and I knew we were in for a sermon.

"I've just realised...you two..."

"This isn't about lightning _again_, is it? I asked him, trying to make myself clear over Sirius and Peter, who were still singing.

"You're holding a metal object really high in the air, James, you're practically a lightning rod!"

"_I've taken my bows, and my curtain calls..."_

"Moony, the odds on getting struck by lightning are extremely low...er...high? Low, high?"

"_You brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it..."_

"Give it to me, you'll be safer."

"_I thank you all..."_

"Don't be ridiculous. You'll get your turn!"

"_But it's been no bed of roses..."_

"I am not being ridiculous! You're the one who's being ridiculous! Please give it to me."

"_No pleasure cruise..."_

"Take it!" I retorted, holding it high from his reach. Remus leaped at my hand, while I pulled snide faces at him. This wasn't the best idea, as Sirius began to stumble, and I nearly fell off.

"Will you two prats stop it before someone gets hurt!" Sirius snapped. "Prongs, just give it to Moony, it's not like it's yours anyway."

Sulkily, I leant towards Remus and began to give it to him.

And then...everything was incredibly bright, and I felt a terrible pain in my hand, which was followed by the pain of falling on the ground, except I couldn't see a damn thing and I didn't know what was happening...

"Sirius, check if James is allright."

"And what are we supposed to do with Remus?"

"I'm seeing to him! We'll be fine. I've got a Portkey to St. Mungo's, I carry one everywhere with me, we'll be fine..."

"Sirius? What the hell has just happened?"

"Are you allright, James?"

"Tell me what's happened."

"James...James...Remus has been struck by lightning."


	8. Just A Poor Boy

**A/N: **I do know it's been a ridiculously long time and I'm really sorry. This chapter is massively long, though, so hopefully you'll appreciate it. I also know that a story has three parts: plot, dialogue and description, and this chapter has a hell of a lot of the second and little of the third. I'm sorry, I will make it up to you next chapter. I'm sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger again, especially to those fans of a particular Marauder…

Merry Christmas, everyone!

**Chapter Eight**

_He's just a poor boy from a poor family…_

Before today, I had never known about Peter's knowledge of first aid. When we got to St. Mungo's, Sirius and I waited patiently outside the ward while he chatted to the doctors about what precisely had happened. I had a burned hand, and though it was a quick-fix injury, I was having to wait a long time.

"Does it hurt much?" he asked me.

"It's kind of a dull pain." I admitted. "Though I really don't want to take off this tissue Peter's put on it, in case it rips off the skin or something..."

Sirius shuddered at my frank descriptions. "Why did he put some holes in it?"

"Expose it to the air." I explained sagely. "That's what Muggles do, according to Pete. It's amazing, what he knows! He even knows how to deliver a baby! In, like, an emergency...say it came out really quickly or something..."

"Yeah, OK! Ugh. How did he learn that?"

"His mum taught him. She did a course in it for work and passed on some of the stuff to him."

"Is that you, Potter?"

I turned, and saw last year's sixth year Prefect, Frank Longbottom, grinning at us cheerfully. He, too, had an injured hand.

"Still waiting for treatment?"

"Yeah..." I said, admiring my hand and wondering if I'd get an impressive scar. "They put all the seriously hurt people on priority."

"Oh, I know." He laughed. "It's ridiculous. So what have you done to yourself?"

"Well, basically, we were out on a picnic when we found the World Cup. And it was a thunderstorm, and we were carrying it along, and I was going to pass it to Remus, but the Cup got struck by lightning when we were both holding it. Anyway, Remus got a total shock and I just got a burnt hand and a headache."

Frank blinked. "I don't get it. What?"

Sirius continued. "James was sat on my shoulders, so he was further away from the ground than Remus was. The electricity took the path of the least resistance that was closest to the ground to get to the earth, to resolve the potential difference of the charges of the sky and the earth, which was created by the clouds rubbing against each other (which is where the sound of thunder comes from). So Remus, standing on his own, got the full voltage going through him, while James was burned by the heat energy given off when the Cup conducted the electricity."

"I _really _don't get it."

"Oh, well. Ask Peter, he knows."

"Pettigrew knows something?"

"More than your mum's hamster." I said crossly. He looked at me apologetically. Forgivingly, I continued. "What did you do to yourself, anyway?"

"It wasn't _my _fault...you ever played Irish Snap?"

"Aye." We replied, thinking of the bruises and almost-broken fingers we'd had. "'Tis a tricky game. Ye put yer hand on the cards last, ye lose. Ye put yer hand on first, and everyone else's hand crushes it."

"Exactly." Frank said, nursing his hand. "We met up with some Slytherins the other day in the pub...one of 'em, bit of an idiot, was fed up of losing again and again...and one of my hand bones is broken."

"Can't you just use 'Episkey'?"

"Not with my crappy wand..." Frank sighed.

Suddenly I head footsteps, and turned to see Peter approaching, looking relatively comfortable.

"Is he alright?" I asked, concernedly.

"Oh, yeah…Healers fixed the burns in a second."

"Great! So is he going home?"

"No, there's…one problem the Healers aren't so confident about…"

"What is it?" Sirius asked immediately.

Peter took a deep breath. "Well, it's…um…er…um…"

"Spit it out!" Sirius responded with frustration. "Is it a major problem? Is he still going to be the same Remus we know and…like?"

I noticed that Peter's blue eyes were wider than before, and he appeared to be staring at something at the other end of the corridor. I turned, and saw Remus's mother approaching, her normally sleek hair slightly ruffled and her lipstick smudged.

"H-Hello, Mrs…er…Mrs Lupin." Peter greeted her, blushing slightly.

"'Ello, Peter." she smiled. "James, Sirius. I assume it is good news? I don't doubt you would be with Remus if it wasn't."

"Oh, well, basically, er, it's, um, a, like, thing, to do with…"

"This place gives me the most awful memories…" Mrs Lupin said emotionally. "It was two o'clock and John and I were on this bench here…although I guess it could have been another one, and Remus was being checked over and we knew what had happened but we didn't want to hear…we hoped maybe they would turn around and say it was a big dog or something, but we knew deep down that wouldn't happen…"

"Yeah, well, Remus is now…" Peter began steadily, having finally got a grip after Sirius irritably kicked him in the shins.

A Healer came past, and Remus's mother quickly stepped in front of him.

"Hello, I'm looking for my son? He was admitted about an hour ago, he was struck by lightning."

"Come this way, Madam. Your…parents…are with him now."

"Oh, no, they were my husband's parents." She informed him, as they headed in the same direction as Peter had come from. I stood up quickly.

"Hey, can we visit him now."

"Sorry, lads." The Healer apologised quickly. "Only three visitors in the room at a time, hospital policy. Patients get intimidated if there are too many visitors at a time."

As they left, Sirius and I muttered to each other angrily.

"Bloody hospital policy…"

"Remus is a _werewolf, _for crying out loud, he's not going to be _intimidated _if we come in with his mum."

"I don't know, actually. Peter seems to find Remus's mum pretty _intimidating._" Sirius grinned.

"Shut up!"

"Do you like her French accent, Pierre?"

"Shut _up!"_

"Voulez-vous…er…OK, I won't finish that."

"Remus's mum has got it going on…"

"Will you _leave_ it? Please? It's really embarrassing, I wish I could stop it. Don't tell Remus…he'll think I'm…twisted or something."

"Yeah, I don't think Remus would want you for a step dad, somehow."

"JAMES!" Peter screamed, to my delight, startling a few passers-by.

"Shh…we're in a hospital! God, Peter, I'm so embarrassed now. You can't imagine how I feel…"

Peter ran backwards to prepare to leap on me, jumping into an old couple.

"Oh! Sorry, Mr Lupin, Mrs Lupin." I assumed from Peter's apologetic look that these were Remus's dear, boring grandparents. His grandfather was a short man whose slight smile was identical to the weak one Remus would beam at us after full moons. His grandmother was taller, straighter and wore a cravat close to her chin, giving her a formidable look.

"I'm extremely disappointed in the lot of you." she said shakily. "First the burglary, now this happens to Remus! What was going through your minds?"

"If the worst comes to the worst, Isadora, they'll send him to America…"

"I don't want my little boy going to America! They have _guns _there!"

"Well, they have guns here, too." Mr Lupin bleated, though he was no match for his wife.

"I…don't…want this! Listen, the three of you. As long as Remus is with us, which is the entire summer as you probably know, he will not be joining your exploits! I will see to that! If this is what happens when you go on a picnic, Merlin knows what'll happen if you do something risky!"

"Now, Dora, remember what Elodie said. Remus is a big boy, he can take care of himself. He's a prefect, as well, he's good at telling what's dangerous and what isn't…"

"Elodie is a radical! She doesn't take him to church anymore, you know. Oh, if Amadeus was still around…" She dabbed at her eyes with her hanky, even though she wasn't crying. Sirius looked utterly horrified by the idea of being separated from Remus, while Peter looked extremely guilty. Though I knew this was all my fault, I was optimistic that Remus would find a way of contacting us. Judging by how miserable he was getting without his friends, he would need to. I simply nodded politely to Mrs Lupin, who glared at my scuffy hair and flounced towards the door. Her husband glanced nervously after her, then bent slowly towards us.

"Boys, I'm sorry, but…we're just worried about Remus's safety, and we're not sure how much more stress we can take!" he laughed nervously. "But feel free to write to him, I don't think he could bear it if you didn't. Oh, and also, our choir's doing a performance soon, Remus'll be there, so if you go there you can see him."

"Sounds….wonderful." I said, already thinking of the better things I could do.

"He'll be singing. If we can persuade him. I expect Isadora will. She can be pretty fierce at times…once again, I'm sorry. Hopefully see you there!" He scuttled off, as fast as an old man can scuttle, towards his wife, who was waiting impatiently by the hospital doors.

One minute later, Sirius and I were at Remus's bedside, talking to him quietly about what had happened.

"We're really glad you're OK." Sirius said, patting Remus on the back gently.

"Yeah, that was a close one." I smiled. "Won't be taking many more risks in the future, yeah?"

Remus smiled gratefully at us, and fluffed his pillow cheerfully.

"The Cup's a bit melted." I said. "We'll take it to London in the morning, probably. Hopefully they'll reward us anyway. We're going to Peter's for tea after we've finished chatting to you."

Remus stared at us. "James-" he began, with a tone of impatience.

"Look, I know, the Pettigrews probably aren't in your good books, but we can't abandon Peter. We want to help him out."

"James-"

"Remus, chill out." Sirius assured him. "It's all good. I suppose you know we won't be seeing you, huh? Don't worry, we'll sort it all out. We'll come and see your performance, even though we don't know when or where."

"Sirius-"

"We do know you'll be singing!" Sirius and I spoke simultaneously.

"So, are you a tenor or a soprano?" I asked, giggling slightly.

"This is what he sounds like." Sirius began excitedly, noticing that Remus was getting increasingly upset and trying to cheer him up. "Galileo!" he sang highly.

"Think it's more of a 'Galileo'." I sang in a low voice, watching Remus out of the corner of my eye for a happy reaction. His arms were beginning to flail.

"Galileo!"

"Galileo!"

"Galileo Figaro!"

"Magnifico!"

"Guys, please, be quiet for a second! Let me talk!" Remus huffed crossly, rudely interrupting Sirius's lament about what a poor boy he was and how nobody loved him. Remus sighed softly and looked us both squarely in the eyes.

"I assume Peter didn't tell you." he spoke quietly. "Or maybe he did, I can't tell. I didn't catch a word of anything you two have just said, though it looked entertaining. You see…though the burns I've got have gone…my hearing has too."


	9. Affection Was Never Wasted

**A/N**: Sorry for the lack of recent updates, I've been concentrating on my other story, **The Fabulous Destiny of Luna Lovegood**. Please give it a read!

**Chapter Nine**

_Talk not of wasted affection. Affection was never wasted._

Though I can't say either of us have any experience with communicating with the deaf, Sirius, Peter and I did our best. Deafness is seriously rare in the wizarding world, so the Healers were slightly baffled and Remus was a little depressed about the whole thing. So we acted in our usual silly, creative way to bring a smile to his face. Peter managed to get some paper from the children's bit, and drew some of the funny moments the four of us had had, with Sirius and I adding captions.

"Was that the time we used a telephone box as a Portkey?" Remus giggled, and we nodded demonstratively, pointing to the picture. "I'll never understand why those Muggle kids were following me and shouting 'Doctor!'"

There was also the time we lost a bet with the Slytherins and Remus and Peter became cheerleaders for Gryffindor. That was rather humiliating but who knew Peter could cartwheel? Then there was the time we played Quidditch with vegetables, and the time I impressed Evans with my singing...Remus's singing behind a curtain. Snape just _had _to ruin everything. Oh, well. One of the keys to success is learning to persevere.

But it was getting late, and once my hand was fixed, we needed to be getting to Peter's. We saw Remus quite obviously descend from happiness as we left, but I tried to think of the food that was waiting for us at Peter's house.

Peter's mum had left her son an angry note telling him about how she'd had to call Nan in to look after Stan and Gemma, Peter's brother and sister. The old lady was happy to put the chips and sausage rolls left out for us in the oven, and we happily tucked in, along with Stan. Gemma sat in her high chair and was fed mush by her grandmother.

I don't normally say this, but Gemma was _adorable. _She had little blonde curls in her hair and big blue eyes like her brother. She kept reaching to touch Sirius's hair, because it was long and nice for her little hands. Stanley, meanwhile, was an angry little boy who glared evilly at us. I don't know what we'd done to him, but he seemed very irritable and rejected our attempts to talk to him.

"So you go to a primary school?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of stuff do you learn?"

"None of your beeswax."

Peter apologised for him afterwards, as we sat on the old sofa watching the fellytision. "He likes saying 'None of your beeswax'. Thinks it makes him sound tough, I suppose."

"Why are you talking about me?"

"I ain't! I'm talking about this bloke on the telly... _Doctor Who._"

The fellything is too cool for words. I never understood why Muggles worshipped it, but now, I wanted one of my very own. Sirius did not seem as impressed. What was wrong with him? Everything about this place was wonderful, except perhaps Stan. Peter's grandma seemed to like me, as well. She asked us all kinds of questions, like what did we get up to at school, was Peter good, did he always do his homework, and so on. I explained everything enthusiastically, but I think her fond eyes glazed over after a while. I was happy to yabber, though. It made her like me, and she gave me Gemma to hold.

"Your sister is wonderful."

"Be glad you're not sleeping over. She used to keep us awake half the night."

"Yeah, but...awww..." I couldn't help but hold those pudgy little hands. They were so small in comparison to my own!

"Oh, our Prongs, you have gone soft." Sirius said. "I suppose you want to spawn lots of mini Potters when the time comes?"

"Yeah, but I'll see what Evans says. She'll be the one having them, after all." Peter and Sirius laughed and shook their heads at me. One day, I, or we, would show them.

As the programme finished, an idea sprang to Sirius's mind.

"Peter, can we see your guitar?"

Peter blushed. "I 'spose." He lead us to his small bedroom, which he shared with Stan. In the corner of the room was a large electric guitar. It looked very good quality and expensive, which, unfortunately, could not be said for a lot of the things in the house.

"My granddad left me a bit of money in his will." Peter explained. "He said he wanted us to spend it on something fun, so I got this and a couple of books. I haven't had much practise, so I'm not that good anymore, but I used to be allright. I can play some famous stuff..."

Sirius was staring at the instrument in awe. "Merlin, Wormtail. I thought it was a guitar, not a _guitar._"

"You mean you...thought it was a classical guitar?" Peter laughed, seeming oddly confident.

"Yeah, the wooden kind. So will you play us a tune?"

Peter was a little reluctant at first and played slowly, but Sirius's exaggerated yawns caused him to pick up the pace, and soon we were having a jam session. We bounced around Peter's room like loonies, laughing and shouting whatever came into our heads.

"Rock on!"

"Freedom!"

"Summer!"

"Forever!"

"Woohoo!"

"Marauders!"

Eventually we sat down. We would have done seat drops, but Peter said if we smashed the bed, he'd use our jawbones as a new pluck, so we rather peacefully rested on the two beds.

"I wish Moony was here."

"Can you imagine Moony jumping up and down on a bed?" I laughed.

"He's done it before!"

"To music he can't hear?" Peter reminded us, seriously.

"We could just get him drunk, or hyper. Remember the first time we made him laugh? It took about two weeks but _God..._"I remembered the time Sirius was talking about. I can't remember what it was, I think Peter tripped over a table or something. Remus was like a kookaburra on Acid Pops. It was really weird and I will remember it forever.

Peter's mum came back, and was surprised that we were still there. In fact, I think she was surprised we existed. Gemma and Stanley were sent to bed, so we didn't get to see them again before we left. Peter shook our hands firmly and insisted we came back again. I assured him we would, and we found the secret Floo entrance and went home.

As has happened many times, we tumbled in when Mum and Dad were entertaining. Except the guest was not the usual boring auntie who kissed me and told me how I'd grown, or the uncle who'd invite me to see a Quidditch match with him. This guest was fourteen, with neat black hair and a posture as straight as a poker and a very uncomfortable look on his face as he reluctantly sipped our tea. I stared at him in shock, and Sirius glared at him.

_"Regulus?"_


	10. Bestowing Virtue

**Chapter 10**

"Parents are usually more careful to bestow knowledge on their children rather than virtue, the art of speaking well rather than doing well; but their manners should be of the greatest concern."

I wasn't quite sure how to react. I know Regulus well enough; he's a snotty little pipsqueak who never says anything to us without disdain, or thinly-disguised pity. The last time he'd spoken to Sirius, at least when I had been there, he had said something along the lines of; "And great company you keep, brother. A Quidditch hooligan who doesn't know how to be the pureblood he is, a dilapidated drip who may as well live in the Hospital Wing, and this...well, what can't be expressed in words is shown with far too many fat cells." But this was entirely different.

"I suppose Mother and Father sent you." Sirius said. Neither of them were paying any attention to us.

"No, actually." Regulus's voice was cold. He pronounced every syllable he said.

"Liar. Is this some sad act where you pretend to love me or something?"

Regulus blinked. "I'm not about to lower my dignity by throwing myself on me and sobbing at you, if that's what your arrogant mind is expecting me to do. If we may, I'd like to talk to you alone."

Sirius didn't seem quite sure what to do at that point. In the end, he nodded and agreed to go and talk to Regulus in the kitchen.

I had no idea what they said to each other until I heard the door shutting from my room upstairs. I expected Regulus had left, but I didn't know if Sirius was going too. That, or they'd decided to hex each other and Mum wouldn't let them do it in the house. A short while later, Sirius knocked and came into my room. He looked pale.

"What happened?" I asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

Sirius sighed. "Well, he just wanted to say that Mother and Father were concerned about my welfare and they basically wanted to know if I was still alive. I said yes. Then he said the house wasn't the same without me, which is probably true, it's probably worse now that the only decent person has left, and I'm not flattering myself there. He doesn't want to be alone with them, but that's his problem, not mine. They'll probably corrupt him, or hopefully drive him as insane as they drove me, and then he'd be a decent brother. But for now, he's just the same as he always was, and he's not worth going back for. That's basically it."

There was a difficult silence."You OK?" I asked.

"Yeah, I actually feel...more satisfied. I feel like I've properly severed my ties now. Apparently I'm going to be burned off the family tree, I would have been straight away but I am the heir, so they gave me a second chance. I've made it quite clear I'm not taking it, so it's really over now. Before, I just ran away and it was all really rushed and crazy...it was the middle of the night..."

"What exactly happened?"

"I never told you, did I?" Sirius was acting, of course, like he'd forgotten to tell me what the homework was. I didn't mind...I never have any idea what to do when people get too emotional around me.

"No...I didn't want to ask." I admitted. "Thought you might be a bit...I thought it might bother you a bit."

"Thanks for that. Well, basically..."

_It was approximately nine o'clock. The Blacks had just finished dinner, but their eldest son Sirius was not with them. He was in his room, packing his bags. The action itself wasn't new; he'd considered it many times, more than most teenagers. But tonight had been something extraordinary. He couldn't live in a house with those people any more after tonight._

_Recently a terrible thing had happened in London. Death Eaters had entered Diagon Alley, and taken hostages. The Muggleborns among the unfortunate had been killed (though it was unclear how they knew exactly which ones, so it could have been anyone) and the other hostages, though alive, were hurt, some physically and probably all emotionally. It had been too close for home and it seemed like too much to take in. That night at dinner, Sirius had remained silent, his thoughts dominated by it._

_Father, however, didn't quite feel the same way. _

_"So some Mudbloods have been killed again? Probably not much of a loss."_

_"Those people had families." Sirius muttered, almost subconsciously. "It was probably a loss for them, wasn't it?"_

_"Plenty more where they came from." his mother said._

_"You make it sound like they're squashed fruit, not murdered people." Sirius said, but his parents ignored him._

_"Maybe the Ministry'll learn from the experience. Decent people were hurt, maybe a couple of purebloods. If they don't want it to happen again, they'd better sort out the Mudbloods. Trouble, all of them."_

_"They shouldn't be allowed to breed."_

_"Don't you realise you're talking about human beings here?" Sirius snapped. _

_"Sirius Black! How dare you?!" His mother said, in her high-pitched voice._

_"Not letting them breed...are they evil? Are they dangerous? If they are, it's not because they're descended from Muggles, because at the end of the day, family's just genetics..."_

_"Don't be so ridiculous!" his father spoke angrily. Regulus had frozen in his seat, his goblet of pumpkin juice halfway to his mouth._

_"...apart from the emotional stuff, and that's something every human can do!" Sirius knew this was going to have terrible consequences, but he wasn't about to be silenced. Not tonight, when families out there were mourning their murdered family members and his family were there thinking 'Oh, they shouldn't have families'. _

_"Sirius, when you are told to be quiet in this house, you are quiet. You will not say such things, do you hear me?!" What was annoying his parents so much wasn't even what he was saying, it was just the way it contradicted them. Politeness, propriety, image, that was what mattered to them. That, and for some reason believing that they were special. _

_"Do you hear me? Why do you hate Muggleborns so much? Half-bloods? Half-breeds? People who aren't just like yourself?"_

_"Because they are humanity's mongrels, and if you don't understand that, then clearly, you are not part of this family!"_

"...I know it doesn't seem like much in itself, but it was the last straw."

"It is much." I said, not sure what else to add. "I like what you said, though, about Muggleborns, and family and stuff. It's true."

"I remember it exactly." Sirius said. "The whole moment repeats itself in my mind all the time. We had dinners like that before, but my parents never said things like...that...they usually just told me to shut up, only in a kind of posh way."

I was moved by this. I took my parents for granted all the time, being a teenager and at boarding school most of the time. When you don't spend much time with your family, you begin to think they don't matter, but the truth is, they're part of who you are, and if they're not like you, then who are you? But of course, Sirius had a different family. A non-genetic kind, like an adopted kid.

"You don't need them." I said. "They can get stuffed, to use a clean expression. You've got the Potters on your side, plus you've got Peter and Remus."

"Ah, it's all very good and soppy to say that." Sirius said, though he sounded like he did appreciate it. "But family is family. I can't change anything."

"You could be my kid's godfather!" I said, spontaneously, though I had imagined it before in moments of fantasy. "That's family, isn't it? In a way."

Sirius just stared at me, some incomprehensible emotion in his eyes. He then nodded. "I could do that. Godfathers...they teach the kid about God, and moral life stuff, don't they? Well, I can do that. Child, despite the fact your daddy named you Quidditch, God loves you, and so do your mummy and daddy. Even though Daddy 'persuaded' Mummy with everything he could, we think she will one day love him without the aid of a potion. When she is old and senile and thinks he is her childhood puppy."

"That is excellent, Sirius." I laughed, feeling like we could relax again. "My child will no doubt go on to great things with your guidance."


	11. The Right Anger

**Chapter Eleven**

_Anyone can become angry - that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way; this is not easy._

The next day, our OWL results arrived. I had gotten mostly Os, with Es in Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic and Potions. Sirius got one more O than me, which was in Ancient Runes, which I don't take anyway. My parents, pleased that I had done so well, allowed me to use my new broom, and I flew around on it for a while until Sirius shouted up to me that we were supposed to be taking the Cup back today.

Sirius and I Floo'd to London and headed to the Ministry of Magic with our melted and severely damaged World Cup. I was well-known to the people there as both my dad and my grandfather had worked there. The receptionist, however, eyed me sceptically when I approached her. Sirius was distracted staring at the shifting ceiling.

"Are you seriously trying to tell me that that is the Quidditch World Cup?"

I explained that yes, it was, and it got struck by lightning. No, really, it did. No spells my dad knew could restore it to its former state, very sorry. But was there still a reward?

She seemed half-convinced, though refusing to tell us about the reward, and let us wait in the Atrium for Mr Cornfoot, the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. He was having a very important meeting, apparently. Beside us, a small boy of about six or seven was sat miserably playing with a Gobstones set, alone.

"Miss Gargery, will you please play chess with me?"

"No, Roger."

"When is my daddy finished?"

"Not for a long time."

"When is my mummy coming back from shopping? Can I have some more pumpkin juice?"

The woman sighed heavily. "Soon, I hope. Be good and quiet, will you? I'll get you some more pumpkin juice."

Roger sniffed sadly, and I felt sorry for him. It seemed Mr Cornfoot would be a while, so I sat on the floor and offered to play Gobstones with him. He smiled, though seemed slightly scared of me. Sirius sat and watched us with his head in his hands.

As we played (myself with much less effort than usual), Roger lamented to us, probably the youngest people around, about his dad:

"My daddy doesn't play _any_ sports or games. It's _really_ boring, I thought he would take me to Quidditch matches and things, but he's always too busy. Mummy doesn't like Quidditch."

"I don't see why she would, Quidditch is brilliant."

"I know." Roger said, passively, concentrating on Gobstones. "I wish _my_ daddy was an actual Quidditch player. It would be so _groovy_. _Everyone's_ dad works at the Ministry."

"Yeah, my dad works here." I said. "He's an Auror."

"WOW!" Roger broke his concentration and stared at me in wonder and respect.

"Yeah. He's getting on a bit, so he's thinking of taking a job with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because he finds it interesting."

"My mummy used to work there before I was born. They have loads of nasty creatures, like ghouls, and centaurs..."

"Centaurs aren't too bad as long as you're polite to them." I advised Roger, wondering if he would be anything like us and go running into the Forbidden Forest in his first week at Hogwarts.

"...and dragons..." Sirius and I laughed, thinking of what Hagrid would say to dragons being described as 'nasty creatures'.

"...and werewolves. I don't like those."

"I know someone who's a werewolf." I said. Sirius looked at me angrily.

"They're _horrid_."

"During the full moon, certainly." I said, thinking of the odd red patch on my skin left over from when 'Remus' had scratched me. "But most of the time they're OK, you know. Just human beings."

"You ought to remember that." Sirius said, acting as a potential godfather should.

"That's not what my daddy says." Roger said, dismissively, and returned to his Gobstones.

At that point, we were allowed to enter Mr Cornfoot's office. As we came towards it, the person he had been interviewing emerged. He was tall and lean, with blue eyes and blond hair. We recognised him from school, he was in the year above.

"Ludo! What are you doing here?"

Ludo looked at us. "I was looking into work experience. You?"

"We found the missing World Cup." I said, demonstrating it proudly. He laughed.

"Are you seriously trying to _hustle_ the Ministry? Good luck!"

"It's as genuine as you are." Sirius said, in defence of our discovery. "See, the base is still intact, and that's proof, even if the hallmark has probably melted."

"Yes..." Ludo said, as sceptically as the receptionist. "The con is on."

Mr Cornfoot inspected our prize thoroughly. He was a thin man with dark brown hair and a slim moustache. He had a pair of thick, square-rimmed glasses and a set of yellow robes. I didn't particularly like anyone who inadvertently taught their children prejudices, but my parents had always reminded me that people get stuck in their ways, even if they know deep down their beliefs are wrong. And besides, we wanted our reward for Peter and Remus's family.

"Well, boys," he said. "It looks authentic, but I will obviously have to cast a Authenticity Charm..." He waved his wand. "_Auctorizus._"

The trophy glowed with a green light. Mr Cornfoot looked surprised, and looked up at us quizzically.

"How did you say it got like that?"

We explained everything, including my burnt hand and Remus's electric shock. We also added, for the record, that Remus was now as a deaf as a stone and perhaps would require some expensive surgery...

Mr Cornfoot ignored the hint. "I'm afraid we'll have to reduce your reward, because we can't possibly use the Cup again. How about...20 Galleons?" We stared at him in shock. That was a severe reduction! He rolled his eyes. "Fine...30 Galleons and tickets to the Wimbourne Wasps game for all four of you."

We agreed, reluctantly.

When we got home, my second cousins (Hugo, Kaleb and Marcus) were visiting. Hugo was the oldest, and was short, well built and pompous. He was a third year in Ravenclaw. He kept his blond hair combed perfectly and his collar straight. Kaleb was the middle child, joining Hogwarts this September, and seemingly eager to be an Anti-Hugo, as he had mud on his face and a grin in place of an insolent sneer. As for Marcus, he just kept helping himself to more biscuits when no one was looking. As they got bored, Sirius and I played Quidditch with them while their parents, my first cousins, chatted with mine. It all went quite smoothly, that is, until Hugo, that irritating little bugger, Haversacked. Well, from Sirius's point of view, anyway. I couldn't tell, because I was chasing the Snitch. However, we all stopped for a moment as Sirius and Hugo began arguing.

"You Haversacked! That's a foul!"

"Haversack? That's not a foul. That's not even a word."

"It is." Kaleb said. "It's when the Chaser's still holding the Quaffle when he scores. And you did."

"I most assuredly did not. This is ridiculous."

Sirius was having none of Hugo's self-righteousness. "You cheated, that's a penalty to the other team. Just accept it and get on with the game, will you?"

"I did no such thing!"

"Oh, stop it, no one cares if you cheated or not."

"Well, you obviously do!"

"Accept it!"

"I'm not accepting something I didn't do!"

"Merlin! Don't take it so bloody seriously!" I said, but they didn't listen to me. Marcus nudged me.

"Can I go down and get another biscuit?"

"Sure...this'll go on a while..."

"I did not CHEAT!" Hugo was going way too over-the-top. His face was reddening and he was stamping his feet like a two-year-old.

"You did, and you will admit it, you arrogant little...BERK!" Sirius said, also getting way more angry than he should have. He had been quiet all day, and I had known better than to pester him after last night. Unfortunately Hugo did not.

"Don't be mean to me, I'm younger than you!!"

"Act like the kid you are and show some respect then!"

"Sirius, will you pick on someone your own size?" I asked, but neither of them heard me. Feeling like things wouldn't get any better, I cringed and squinted at them. Indeed, things continued to escalate, and before I knew it, Sirius had pulled out his wand.

"Sirius you bloody fool! DON'T..."

**Two hours later**

_Dear Remus,_

_You will probably believe what happened today. Sirius managed to get into a big argument with my cousin, Hugo, after the little prat cheated at Quidditch, and, well, he put that Slug-Burping Curse on him. It would have been hilarious if it hadn't been so sudden and out of proportion, as well as, of course, illegal. The Ministry came round straight away, and it was all such a palaver. Hugo's mum and dad were angry, but who cares. So now Sirius is at the Ministry and I don't know what's going to happen. At least my parents aren't upset. They think, and I think, that he was tense and he lost his temper. Regulus came round yesterday, see, and they had a chat, but Sirius didn't tell me much. He told me why he ran away, and things were allright, but you can't just stop thinking about these things. You know more about these things than I do. What should I do? _

_James_

_PS. How are you, and how are your ears? Are they working?_

_PPS. What were your OWL results? Mine were alright._

_PPPS. Do you have the Map? You were only supposed to keep it for a week before passing it on to me, but I'll forgive you._

_PPPPS. Has Evans been writing to you? Has she mentioned her boyfriend? _

_PPPPPS. Please write back soon. Do tell us when your toad-loving choir's performing. As well as, you know, telling me what I should do about Sirius._

**A/N:** So sorry for the lack of updates! I've had exams for a while, and now I have a lot more free time I'm returning to fanfic. Sirius's unfortunate moment was inspired by a piece of fanart I saw, which alleged that he had a bit of a downward spiral following running away. And as anyone who reads **The Fabulous Destiny of Luna Lovegood **will know, little Sir Roger Cornfoot would have been much better off to listen to James and Sirius about werewolves...:-)


	12. A Friend's House

**A/N:** Sorry, sorry, and once again, sorry! I've been working on an R/T fic (which is now finished), and I've also been stuck after Deathly Hallows. At least things haven't changed too much for our Marauders, eh? I've also had a bit of writer's block with this, I hope that's not obvious... Anyway, once again I'm very sorry for the lack of update. I do hope you enjoy this.

**Chapter Twelve**

_"The road to a friend's house is never long."_

_Dear James,_

_I shall address your points in reverse order. Firstly, my toad-loving choir is performing this Saturday night, but you are not coming. Lily Evans has been writing to me here and there; she hasn't mentioned you except to ask me (as she does frequently) WHY am I friends with you? I told her you were paying me generously. The Map is enclosed, sorry about the delay. I've been working on some of the charms to make it a bit more responsive. My OWL results were quite good, though a little disappointing considering how hard I worked off my socks. I DID fail Potions but I got Os in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic (would you believe? My nap time!) and Ancient Runes. So, I'm well, apart from the ears, which still don't work. I am living in a silent world, and it bothers me immensely, but Maman has written to Dumbledore about it._

_Anyway, sorry, Sirius. I agree with you that it all just probably got too much for him, happens to the best of us. You can deal with his anger management however you think best. IF he gets away with it, he will obviously requite a bit of support. I think, Prongs, even if you don't feel like you're good at this sort of thing, you are the person Sirius is closest to. My brand of nice sounds has never worked on him. What you need is to have a big long talk. I know this is not something people of our gender are accustomed to, but it does work; remember when I lost my head after you found out I was a werewolf? Like that. Only don't just ask him over breakfast (for Merlin's sake I nearly fell off the bench). If he doesn't get away with it...he'll get expelled and possibly have to go home. If that happens, remember to make it clear that he has yours and my support and we will visit him as often as we can._

_This summer isn't going well at all, is it Prongs? If Sirius gets expelled, we'll all be cut off from each other in one form or other. See you at Hogwarts, I hope?_

_Remus_

Remus's letter reassured me, as did the soft hoots from my owl as I read it. She seems to know when I'm worried, though she didn't think this should prevent me from giving her treats.

"Dad's getting chips, I'll give you one of those." I told her, then took her on my arm and carried her towards the seats outside the office Sirius was being consulted in. I wasn't aware of who he was talking to but I knew the penalties well; expulsion, suspension, or if you're extremely lucky, a slap on the wrist. I kept the fingers of my left hand crossed and stroked my owl with my right. The room's lighting was too bright and gave me a slight headache, which was helped by the hot chips Dad placed on my lap.

"Any news?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said, breathing in the smell of salt and vinegar. "I dunno how long I'll be here, but I'll stay here all night if I have to." I picked up a chip and fed it to my owl, who hooted happily.

"You're a good friend, son." My dad said, proudly. I felt proud of that myself, but I couldn't have been a good friend if I didn't have good friends myself. Remus and Sirius were proof of that.

The time dragged on at a snail's pace, and my headache worsened. I was tired, and worried for my friend. Remus was right that I probably was the right person to speak to him, but I had no idea what to say and had hoped he would tell me. Still, as instructed, I remembered the day we found out Remus was a werewolf...I had never seen it particularly sentimentally, even if it is the closest I've ever seen Rem get to crying (he was a sensitive thing in those days). But it was a display of loyalty against all odds (lycanthropy is undoubtedly an 'odd') and I hoped I could continue that with Sirius.

When I saw him again, it was nearly nine thirty. I had closed my eyes without realising it, probably because it made my head feel better. When I woke, I saw him, some distance from me, looking dark despite the bright light. His hair hung in his face in a way reminiscent of a certain Snape, and his eyes regarded me unhappily. I smiled at him, though it probably looked more like a grimace. Would he be expelled? And if he was, what would we do? How could his family take him back now?

The official was a broad fellow with thick brown hair and a thick chin. He looked as tired as I felt and had the traces of a five o'clok shadow. He regarded my dad and I with a serious yet puzzled look.

"Potter, what have you to do with this case?"

"Sirius is a friend of my son's." Dad explained, gesturing me with his hand. I was regarded by the official with barely a nod, and Sirius was watching my dad, who looked more confident than anyone else.

"And he has been living with you over the summer?"

"That is correct."

"That is of particular interest to us." Tthe official's voice was weary but hard. "If you would be so kind as to come this way." Dad screwed up the newspaper that had been holding his chips and threw it in the bin beside him, then lifted himself up and strode with the Official back to the office. Sirius silently took a seat beside me and threw his head back. I couldn't see his face.

"I haven't been expelled. They're arranging punishment for me when I get to school, but I'm used to that." he said, in a strange tone.

"You're lucky." I told him, feeling an energizing grin spread on my face. Much as I enjoyed Remus and Peter's company, life at school could _never _be the same without Sirius.

"It's my first time, so they're being nice to me. Good bloke, that official. Stuff like this is skin-tight with the Death Eaters about...speaking of which..."

"What?" I said, not knowing what this could have to do with us.

"The Ministry's cracking down on people who move about without arrangements. It's a new regulation coming in, they're just putting it into effect now. Stops young Death Eaters and the like meeting up, I suppose, which is the most stupid thing but the Ministry does appear to be having a laugh sometimes. Unfortunately I'm going to have to be one of the first poor sods they can laugh at, which is my punishment for making your cousin burp slugs. I'm being sent back to the family I'm registered with, that is, my own." He sat up as he said this, and I saw a mixture of fear and despair in his face that was so far from the Sirius I knew. Nothing seemed to matter for that moment, and with that, somehow, I was able to say something;

"You've only got a year left until you're of age. My parents will sort something out?"

"You think they're going to adopt me? My parents would never allow it. Disowned or not disowned, they're not handing me over to...well, your family. That's like...if Remus's mum gave him to Greyback. She'd rather he was dead."

I doubted that, but I nodded, feeling like I had only had a short break from the hopeless feeling weighing on my head. He seemed to feel the same way, and both of our eyes diverted, looking at the table between us. I noticed the packet of chips on top of Remus's letter, and handed it to Sirius.

"Dad's been keeping them hot with a charm." he said. "Should turn off as soon as you start eating."

"Thank Merlin, I'm starving." Sirius said, and opened the packet. I grabbed the letter, which had a big grease stain on it, and re-read it, particularly the last lines.

"Sirius?"

"Yeah?" he said, his mouth full of hot, vinegar soaked potato.

"You know, if you do go back home...it won't mean anything to Remus, Peter and I. We won't stop being friends."

He swallowed, and beamed at me, looking more like the Sirius I knew. "Thanks, I need to know that sometimes."

We heard footsteps. My dad had returned from the office.


	13. It Hasn't Been Your Day

**A/N:** 'In Memoriam' is in the French film Les Choristes, but the actual song I _believe_ is in Latin, though I couldn't find a good translation. We're getting towards the end now! I'm sure you all know where this chapter's quote is from...

**Chapter Thirteen **

_"When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but..."_

Dad looked a little worse for wear; shoulders were drooped and his cardigan hung on him in a peculiar way. Perhaps he was getting old, but there was a slight smile on his face as he told us what we wanted to hear.

"Sirius, James's mum and I can't adopt you, but we're doing the closest thing we can to it. I've Floo'd her, and she's going to sign the form to let us keep you another summer."

I sank back into my chair with relief, not noticing my glasses fall down my nose, nor listening carefully to their conversation. Sirius began to smile, but didn't quite reach it as another thought occurred to him.

"Will I have to go back to my parents?"

"Possibly." My dad said. "They wouldn't come to us, would they?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, no, they won't." He sighed heavily. I felt awful; what could I do? I could not think of myself at that point, my glasses were halfway down my nose and I couldn't see properly, but my thoughts were on Sirius. He had to go back...what would happen? How could it be OK?

We barely spoke at home that night. He seemed depressed, going straight upstairs to brush his teeth after telling my mum (who had stayed up for us) that he was just fine. I explained, before going miserably to bed myself, that he was going back to his parents' tomorrow, and her warm smile and kind words comforted me a little. I slept for a few hours after thinking over the day's events...going to the Ministry twice, Hugo, the chips, the official...Roger Cornfoot...every detail seemed to form a horrible picture that made its way into a horrible dream. I dreamt that Sirius returned to his parents and began to love them as I loved mine, and would be returning to Hogwarts a newly instated Slytherin. Remus wouldn't be coming back at all as his grandparents would home educate him, and I tried to talk to him but of course he couldn't hear. And so I was with Peter in the same park we'd had our picnic, while Lily walked past us hand in hand with her boyfriend, who looked mysteriously like...

"Snivellus?" I said to myself in the dark. I was awake again, in bed. Nothing had changed, but everything would...afraid, I let my mind wander to Remus's ear problem, and to sending Peter his share of the money tomorrow morning. I didn't go back to sleep.

In the morning, I came downstairs to see Sirius up and dressed. He had a piece of parchment beside him and looked less melancholy then usual as Chintzy spooned fried eggs onto his plate.

"Got an owl from Peter." he said. "First one this summer! Things must be looking up for him."

"I need to send him the money." I said, feeling grateful to avoid the subject of the Blacks.

"Yeah, eight Galleons." he grunted. "So much for twenty-five! I suppose that'll buy...some nappies for Gemma. Or maybe some more fish fingers. We'll need to tell him how to change them to pounds."

"Yeah." I said, and there was a pause. I heard the sound of my breakfast being cooked.

"I'm going to see them today. If I can't get in I'll wait outside for someone to come out, they usually do. I'll hold up the form and they can sign it. Do you think we could get your Dad to Transfigure..."

"Nope, it's illegal to modify Ministry forms. Fraud."

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll...try to be home for tea time. I mean, at your house..." He averted his eyes and concentrated on his breakfast while I skimmed over Peter's letter.

**Dear Padfoot and Prongs,**

**Remus told me about what happened-but I'm not afraid! I think if you can learn to be an Animagus you can do anything, right? I got a letter from Moony, who has been writing to me like a mad person. Dumbledore put the problem of his deafness to Slughorn, who wrote to one of his friends who's a private Healer, who is brewing (with a fee from Remus's nan and grandad) a potion to regrow his eardrums. Sounds weird, eh? It'll take a while but at least we don't have to spend half our lives passing notes. His choir thing is coming up on Saturday, we can meet up at my house and go. I persuaded him to tell me by giving him a Milky Way. That's a chocolate bar. You know what our Moony's like.**

**Anyway, hope all goes well. **

**Wormtail**

Sirius and I shared an awkward hug before he left. His expression didn't say much but there was a look about him, something in his posture, that showed how depressed he was feeling. I didn't want anything bad to happen, but I had a foreboding feeling now that it would. After breakfast I holed up in my room, away from anyone except my owl, who was sleeping after bringing Peter's letter. After sending out the money with my parents' owl, I occupied the morning doing homework and even tidying up. My mum brought me up some sandwiches at lunchtime.

"Are you feeling alright?" She asked me.

"Not particularly." I mused. She patted my shoulder.

"Don't worry. You and Sirius will never stop being friends." she said.

I knew that, but I was still concerned. In the afternoon, I did hardly anything worth remembering. I went downstairs and wandered around, eating a little, drinking a little, sitting a little. After a while I got out the picture of Lily I had taken without her noticing in the common room this summer. Sometimes she would turn and glare at me, other times she seemed indifferent. All the time, I liked seeing her, because I was glad to know her even if she wasn't mine.

In the end, things did not turn out as badly as I imagined. Actually, I don't know what I imagined, but I was pleased when Sirius returned on his broomstick to the house in the late afternoon.

"Signed, sealed and delivered!" he said proudly. "Just got to send it off to the Ministry. Father didn't really bother reading it...he doesn't care where I go anymore."

I would have asked if that bothered him, but I didn't think it did.

"They've disowned me. I've been burned off, like my cousin Andromeda. What's good enough for her is good enough for me!"

Feeling relieved, I said. "She married a Muggleborn, right?"

"Yeah," Sirius told me, as we walked into the kitchen with the same casualness as we walked into our dormitory at school. "Ted Tonks. They've got a little girl. I reckon I'll one-up Andromeda and marry a..."

He was interrupted then by a hug from my mum. For someone who had been so calm earlier, she seemed very emotional.

"I'm just _thrilled_ you're alright." She told him. "I mean, I was hoping you would be, but..."

"I'm fine, I'm fine. No more worries." Sirius assured her. There was something odd in the briefness of his answers, but I ignored it. My dad handed out Butterbeers, looking as relieved as I felt.

"May we have a peaceful two weeks together!" he said loudly, and we drank.

As promised, we stopped off at Peter's house that Saturday to go and surprise Remus at his concert. We didn't actually know if he would sing or not, being, as far as we knew, still deaf, but we wanted to see it anyway. The day had been, as we had vowed, a very peaceful and lazy one spent boating on the river and fishing, except of course there were no fish and we decided to pack it all up and go to Diagon Alley, where we had ice-cream. At Peter's house, there was a cake waiting for us, with 'Thank You', written in icing. We were delighted. Peter, who had decorated the cake himself, blushed slightly as he watched up eat our slices.

"It was so hard to keep it away from them two."

"I know, we're unstoppable." I laughed.

"I meant..." Peter laughed. "We should have had it later, you've got crumbs on yourselves. We can't go to the hall dressed like that."

"How posh is it going to be?" I asked, incredulously.

My question was answered an hour later, when we were finding our seats in front of a raised platform with a collection of people with instruments to the side. I was enjoying watching them practise a little while Sirius greeted a blonde girl in a row near ours.

"Narcissa!" No reaction from Blondie. She pointedly turned her head towards her boyfriend, who looked as frosty as she was, and talked to him quietly. "Narcissa!"

"One of your cousins?" Peter asked.

"Yep. News has spread now. I am a Black in name only." he replied.

Remus's grandmother, who was dressed in a formal red velvet dress, came forward and spoke with a Sonourous Charm to her lips.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am very grateful that you could come to our concert this evening, particularly to those of you from the Quibbler who have taken interest in our toads." We covered our mouths and chuckled. How could anyone take this seriously?

Very seriously, apparently. We were far from classical music fans but judging by the notes of the songs their subject matter was very serious. Peter scanned his programme, trying to make sense of it all, and Sirius and I sat up straight and tried to look interested. By the time we got to the fifth song, I was trying to see how many words I could make out of 'SS. Dolores and Trevor's Choir Summer Concert' and Sirius was watching the second hand on his watch go round, his eyelids drooping.

We did not see Remus until a certain song called 'In Memoriam', performed _a cappella. _We saw our nervous-looking friend join on the end of a row, and I whispered urgently to Peter. "What does 'a cappella' mean?"

"No music." Peter said. Indeed, the musicians did seem to be taking a break.

I think the song must have been in Latin, or some other foreign language, because I couldn't make out a word. That wasn't important, because Remus was _impressive. _His voice had a high quality that I had never known he could do. Unfortunately, because he was only just recovering his hearing, his grandmother, who was conducting them, was guiding him with elaborate arm gestures that really ruined the mood. Even Peter, who had acquired a goldfish look upon discovering that I wasn't the only talented one, had to laugh when she raised her arms for a particular swell of music  
"_Christe elei_..."

"RIBBIT." The toad, feebly supported in Remus's shaking hands, hopped off with a loud croak. Remus, alarmed, stopped singing, and the audience stared.

"Such a voice..." I said to Sirius with some sarcasm, a little too loudly as several members of the audience also began to laugh. Peter dropped his programme and chortled, and Sirius said "Thank you, mate. We needed a laugh.", but not as loudly as I had. Remus, I saw, was watching us and smiling with Marauder amusement, though our eye contact was broken when he ran to pick up his toad. The children, now completely distracted, began to drop theirs, and the look on Remus's grandmother's face was priceless as 'In Memoriam' went completely out the window. I think the only person who didn't have a great time was Narcissa.

"This is what I wanted in a summer." Peter commented to me as the four of us (for Remus's grandmother had given up trying to keep control of Remus, along with the toads) shared the rest of the cake back at his house.

"_Aaaand..." _Sirius brandished the tickets from his bag. "Wimbourne Wasps next week. Who's up for a bit of camping before we go back to old Hogwarts?"

We cheered. Finally, a summer holiday.


	14. True Friends

**A/N:** After a whole year (I'm sorry, I'm sorry) we have reached our destination! And it is very long indeed. This chapter contains spoilers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (nothing gruesome, I swear it! Forgive me if you don't like it…) and this is not inspired by the GoF movie, really…

**Chapter Fourteen**

_Future. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness is assured._

The Wimbourne Wasps were at home, so we didn't have to travel far, but my friends and I were determined to camp. And so the four of us, armed with a tent that my mum had borrowed from her friend, set out on a sunny morning towards Wimbourne. As we tried to go quite early, we got a good seat on the Knight Bus that didn't make Remus and Peter too queasy. There was an air of camaraderie from the off. I wore the novelty Wimbourne Wasp Sirius got me one Christmas, which would perch on your shoulder and buzz around your head humming 'Quidditch Match of the Day' when you pinched it. Sirius had helped Chintzy make our sandwiches (he's such a _darling, _my mum kept saying. Always helping at home) while Remus (whose hearing was recovered) wore the 'You Wait 'Til the Full Moon' T-shirt we'd got him for his birthday. It wouldn't give away anything; they were quite fashionable even amongst people who weren't werewolves. As for Peter, he brought along some fairy cakes his mum had made. He had, through Gringotts, had all his money converted into Muggle money to give to her, but she'd bought some icing sugar with the change. We were going to save the cakes for the match, but…well; they'd be selling stuff there!

The stadium was cleverly disguised to Muggles as an abandoned theme park. When we set up our tent in the meadow outside the magical boundaries, we got some strange looks from passers-by, particularly as it was so small. We almost lost the pegs but it turned out Peter was sat on them, and then we discovered it was inside out so the Extension Charm didn't work. _Eventually,_ through _my _fantastic camping skills, we had our lodgings for the night. There were two bedrooms to the side, a kitchen for conjuring (we had plenty of tins), and a big main room with a nice rug and some comfy chairs. We'd probably end up sleeping there tonight, I thought, if we slept at all. I also happened to have in my bag an impressive mass of purchases from Hogsmeade, and…Zonko's. I sneakily planned to hand each of my friends a trick and tell them to plant it on the other two. It would be a laugh.

The match was fantastic, in my opinion. We brought along our Omnioculars from the Quidditch World Cup, and we all got a Cornish pasty and some Butterbeer. I could not get tired of the zooming broomsticks, constant goals and fascinating technique of these professionals. We were up and down all the time cheering, and there were charms all over the place which were pretty exciting. The Wimbourne Seeker, Murphy, caught the Snitch, though in the end it wasn't a massive win against the, ahem, Moose Jaw Meteorites (well, we thought it was a funny name). Still, we were thrilled and in very high spirits for the celebrations afterwards. St. Hedwig's Primary School, which educates magical children in England over the summer, was holding a fundraising fete, so there was a lot going on. There was dancing, a lot more food-who needs dinner when you have candyfloss?-and a few sideshow things. Mum and Dad had given us an allowance of three Galleons to spend. Sirius and I saw a couple of pretty girls, who according to Remus were from the year below and in Hufflepuff, languishing around the Test Your Strength Booth. It involved smashing a pad with a hammer which causes a shower of fireworks, birds, petals, confetti or rain to fall, depending on how hard you hit the thing. I only got petals, but Sirius got some excited squeals from all around when he triggered the fireworks. He flicked back his hair and smiled charmingly at them all, and they sighed, causing jealous grunts from me, Remus and Peter.

But the thing that really sticks out in my mind is a little wooden structure in the far corner, staffed by a woman who looked like a Muggle fortune teller. We were a little intimidated by her intense stares from over her bottles of 'Fortune-Telling' Potions, and edged away politely, only for her to say;

"Aren't you interested in your future, Mr Potter?"

I started in surprise, but Remus said in my ear; "Ignore her, she's probably heard of your dad or something."

"No, Remus Lupin, but I've heard of yours." She said. "Very clever boy, got into Ravenclaw."

Now it was Sirius's turn to be sceptical. "I suppose you're from a line of Seers dating back to the Stone Age? Told celebrities their fortunes and got them right? Saw the Grim in a teacup and somebody died somewhere? I think you types have got more than one fortune in mind…"

"Fortune? Your mind has been closed by my so-called peers. I ask only a Galleon each for these Potions. They will show you a glimpse of your future; it may be tomorrow, it may be in thirty years, but it will never be meaningless. Do you want to know if you'll ever get married? Have children? Get a good job?" I heard excited gasps issuing from Peter's mouth. "…Stay friends forever?"

Peter grinned excitedly. "I'm gonna buy one."

"Oh, _Peter_." Remus said, shaking his head disappointedly.

"It is my money and I will do what I like with it!"

I felt some pleasure in seeing Peter spend the money we'd won so happily, so I dug out a Galleon from my pocket and purchased one myself. I knew she was as fake as Remus's voice-the power of Voice Enhancement Charms can never be underestimated-but if she was secretly one of the schoolteachers it would go to a good cause. After staring at us incredulously for a moment, Remus and Sirius gave in and bought potions themselves.

We forgot about them until about eleven o'clock that night, when we were lying around in the main room, chatting about stuff and recovering from our binge of Honeydukes products and the fact that we all pranked each other at _exactly the same time. _Great minds think alike.

"Lily's boyfriend is a Muggle, so unless she's interested in long distance relationships…"

"Forget it, Prongs, seriously."

I ignored Sirius. "_And _I hear she's not friends with Snivellus anymore."

"That is true, she said in her letters." Remus added. I gave Sirius a smug look, but he just rolled his eyes and then faced the others.

"So…who wants to see the future first?"

"I bet it's crap." Peter said. He was a little disappointed about buying the potion now as it meant he couldn't pay for Murray to sign his shirt. "Probably show me in the future when I'm an old man and have to spend ten minutes on the loo."

We laughed, "Ah, it'll be fun!" and got out the potions, but nobody wanted to go first. In the end, Sirius got annoyed with us all, pulled out the cork and guzzled the Potion down. Immediately, he was thrown backwards onto the floor, half-conscious, twitching a little. Remus, Peter and I stared at each other in horror; what had we bought?

Very luckily, Sirius was awake a minute later. He had a smile on his face.

"Blimey!" he said. "That was something!"

"What did you see?" we all demanded, eagerly.

Sirius grinned, enjoying the attention. He spoke slowly as he revealed what he'd seen of his future.

"I was on a Hippogriff, flying over Hogwarts. I could see the lake and the Forest and the Whomping Willow and all of it. And I felt free, like, like I was being released from prison, 'cos my clothes were really scruffy and my hair was long."

"What did you do to get such a massive detention?" I asked.

"Shut up, James. It was bloody brilliant. The Hippogriff was really cheerful, it was squawking. I dunno where we were going but I didn't care because I was free. You couldn't _be_ freer than that..." he paused, and his delighted expression faded "Have I just taken drugs?"

"Well, if I see myself riding a Hippogriff over Hogwarts, or something equally psychedelic, I think you have." Remus said, and drank the potion with a little less enthusiasm than Sirius had.

It was followed by the same slump and twitching, and he seemed even more surprised when he recovered. He was gasping and gaping like a goldfish, and Sirius was laughing knowledgeably while mine and Peter's fascination grew.

"What did you see? What did you SEE?"

Remus hesitated a moment before saying. "I was…getting married."

We cheered and whooped noisily, taking turns to thump him on the back and high-five him, and each other.

"I mean, I never thought I'd have a love life, let alone get _married_. As soon as I saw where I was I guessed the only woman who'd ever marry me was one that only wanted British citizenship, and even then she could do better. But if that had been the case, I probably wouldn't have been so nervous, and she…"

"Ooh, did you see her? Your missus?" Peter asked, half-nervous, half-enthusiastic.

"And what we all want to know is…was she good-looking?" Sirius asked.

Remus's cheeks turned very pink, and it wasn't the sunburn. "I only caught a glimpse of her, but…yes, she was very pretty." We cheered again. "She had such a huge smile. Her hair was light brown but she had a big, bright pink flower in it."

"Were we there?" I asked. My friend's cheerful expression faded, and he sadly shook his head and told us that no, we were not there. We sat in silence for a moment, wondering. Had we split up as friends? Were we dead? Thankfully, Sirius managed to break through the silence.

"Well, obviously, Peter and I were outside, waiting to set off fireworks when you and your girl are pronounced man and wife." he said.

"What about me?" I asked, indignantly.

"_You, _Rudolf, are out the front, waiting to pull Mr and Mrs Moony's honeymoon carriage."

Remus and Peter burst out laughing, and even I had to chortle. But as the laughter subsided, I felt I had chickened out for long enough, and with my friends' eyes on me, I drank my own bottle of potion. It tasted like an apple that had been out in the sun too long, but it was only a second before I began to dream…

_I felt the melancholy atmosphere before I saw it. My mind was in a combination of my own thoughts, and those of my future self, which were heavy and depressed. We were in an already dark building which was made even more so by the heavy, looming rain clouds that could be seen through the windows. I was sat on a hard wooden bench, a pamphlet in my hands with a dove on the front of it. Sirius was on my right. There was a tense expression on his face that I had not seen before. On my left was Peter, looking equally pale and solemn. Everyone, I saw, was wearing black, and when I looked down at myself, so was I. I knew I was older because there was a fancy watch on my wrist I had to have got when I was seventeen, and there was a scar on it, probably from a full moon, I hadn't seen before._

_Suddenly, silence fell where there had been coughs, whispers and little cries. A clear, familiar voice made me jerk up my head in shock._

"_Dorea was…" My dad, stood before us all, began._

"MUM!" I screamed, only to see my friends staring back at me. There was the light from the ceiling, and the fluffy rug beneath me piled with sweet wrappers. The empty vial was still in my hand. I felt sweat on my forehead and knew from my blurred vision that my glasses were askew.

"My mum…" I said, sadly. "She…"

"She was dead?" Peter mouthed. I nodded. Sirius looked crestfallen, and Remus, who had lost his father before, looked sympathetic.

"I think I was pretty old." I lied, not liking the horrible atmosphere and wanting to forget it all. Just hearing her in the past tense felt like I had seen her body. I shuddered involuntarily and made a gesture showing I didn't want to go into further detail. After a short silence, we were able to relax a little more, and Peter drank his potion. He looked at me to see if I minded, and I didn't, really. But my mum…

Peter's vision, I can say, was a worthy distraction. He seemed more shocked than any of us, and indeed, what he saw was more disturbing than my mother's funeral, more insane than Sirius riding a Hippogriff, and more unlikely than a pretty woman marrying Remus.

"You'll never guess who was there! SNIVELLUS!"

"What?!" We gasped, incredulously. "What, was it at school?"

"No, no, it wasn't even." Peter said. "I was at his house. I had some little drinks on a tray and I was giving them to him, and I was all 'I'm not your butler, Snape', but he was just like 'Thank you, Wormtail'. I left the tray next to him and went back to the kitchen. It smelt funny and there was a load of washing up to do."

We were all perplexed. "Why was Snape calling you Wormtail?"

"I don't give a damn about that." Peter said. "I want to know what I was doing being his stupid butler. Drinks indeed. What am I, a house elf? I said that to him, actually, but he ignored me. Greasy git. He was just as greasy as he usually is, as well."

There was a pause in which Sirius and I exchanged vaguely amused glances, completely stunned by what this meant. Was this Wormtail's life? To be Snivellus's monkey butler? What had Snivellus done to deserve a servant?

And then Remus said, with the slight nervous smile he always has when he says something that might offend someone; "So…It seems I wasn't the only one who dreamt I was married."

Sirius and I laughed more than we had all summer. The thought of Peter and Snape as the Odd Couple was hysterical. Remus, who perhaps had more dignity than clutching his sides and thumping the rug, also laughed tentatively as Peter protested;

"I am not going to marry a man!"

"That's not the point, Peter. It's Snivellus!" Sirius explained, slightly breathlessly. Peter fumed for a while but soon even he had to laugh at the image of Snape-the-husband, spending half his time in the shed and the other half in bed with a newspaper (the Greasy Prophet, Peter speculated). We didn't get to sleep for ages because every time we were quite enough someone said "Mrs. Snivellus." And we were off again.

Yes, it was a different summer but in the end a happy one. After everything we had been through we were at last able to enjoy the late summer sun before the first of September rolled around again. Perhaps it was what I'd seen of our futures today, or the numerous stressful things that happened this summer, but there was something unusual about today. It was as if each of us knew, somehow, subconsciously, that as we headed towards our sixth years and the end of Hogwarts, the end of an era was approaching.

**A/N:** Thank you very much for reading this! I hope you have enjoyed it and found it satisfactory. Peter got a little money, Remus is no longer deaf and his grandparents can't keep him away from his friends, Sirius is part of a happy family and James…well, you can judge for yourselves. I have enjoyed writing this, and I promise it won't be the last from me. Special thank yous go out to the following people:

**The Thief Lordess – Sivaroobini Lupin-Black – Kerichi- xxxemeralds4everxxx – LifeAtRandom – Ward – Ichigo No Ki – The Damsel of Distress – theo darkstar – Stinkin Sammy Jay – ladyofthelight101 – Freja Lercke-Falkenborg **


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